Legislators Propose Heart Disease Prevention Bill

A bipartisan group of female lawmakers earlier this month introduced a bill (S 2278) that would require health information reported to the federal government to specify gender to improve efforts to prevent heart disease and stroke among women, CQ HealthBeat reports. The HEART for Women Act also would call for annual recommendations to Congress on efforts to improve the treatment of heart disease and eliminate disparities in care.

In addition, the legislation would make available in all 50 states a CDC program that provides heart disease and stroke tests to low-income uninsured women at no cost. The program currently is available in 14 states.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said, "We all have to stop thinking of heart disease as a 'man's disease' and start insisting on improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease among women."

Supporters of the legislation include the American Heart Association, the American Stroke Association, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease and the Association of Black Cardiologists (Hopkins, CQ HealthBeat, 2/22).

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