Beatty and DeLauro Introduce Legislation to Reduce the Leading Cause of Death for Women and Expand Women’s Heart Health Services During American Heart Month

Washington, DC —To commemorate American Heart Month, Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition Co-Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) introduced the Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act. The bill would reauthorize and expand access to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) WISEWOMAN program, which provides cardiovascular disease risk factor screenings and healthy behavior support services to low-income women between the ages of 35-64 who have little to no health insurance.

“As a proud stroke survivor, I know firsthand the importance of taking proactive steps to manage high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke,”said Rep. Beatty.“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States and disproportionately impacts women of color, who are at even higher risk of death from heart disease at a younger age. Despite these alarming statistics, women are not getting the same level of care for heart disease as men. WISEWOMAN offers critical tools like preventive screenings and individual health coaching to help women feel empowered over their heart health, and I am thrilled to partner with Congresswoman DeLauro on legislation to expand access to the program. Together, we can help more women listen to their hearts and get the support they need to lead longer, stronger lives.” 

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, and it disproportionately effects women of color,”said Rep. DeLauro. “The Center for Disease Control’s WISEWOMAN program, which I was proud to help establish in 1993, provides needed services to women who struggle with accessing healthcare – to ensure that they receive the treatment they need to prevent and overcome heart disease and lower their risk of death. I am proud to partner with Congresswoman Beatty on this lifesaving legislation that will expand access to access to cardiovascular disease screenings and support services, and will continue to fight to ensure all women have access to the healthcare they need to thrive.”

The Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act is supported by the American Heart Association, Women’s Heart Alliance, The Association of Black Cardiologists, The Adult Congenital Heart Association, WomenHeart, the American College of Cardiology, and Heart Valve Voice-US.

“As the American Heart Association celebrates 100 years of progress against heart disease and stroke, and marks two decades of our Go Red for Women initiative this year, in order to advance health and hope for everyone, everywhere, we must improve awareness of and clinical care for the greatest health threat women face: cardiovascular disease,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “As American Heart Month comes to a close, we are grateful to Reps. Beatty and DeLauro for championing women’s heart health and introducing the Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act, which would expand this longstanding, highly impactful program to more women nationwide.”

“Women’s Heart Alliance supports Rep. Beatty and Rep. DeLauro’s bill to expand access to the WISEWOMAN program so more low-income, uninsured or underinsured women can receive preventive heart disease screenings,” said Women’s Heart Alliance Scientific Advisory Board co-chairs Dr. Noel Bairey Merz and Dr. Holly Andersen. “Heart disease is the number one killer of women—something many American women still don’t know. And deaths due to heart disease is increasing in women. Making baseline screenings more widely available will improve awareness and help heart disease prevention."

“The Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) endorses Rep. Beatty and Rep. DeLauro’s vital legislation aimed at broadening the scope of the WISEWOMAN program, thereby ensuring wider access to essential screenings and interventions for heart disease and stroke risk factors,” said Anekwe Onwuanyi, MD, FACC, ABC President.  “Cardiovascular disease presents a significant health challenge, affecting approximately 60 percent of Black women, a demographic notably almost 60 percent more susceptible to high blood pressure compared to their White counterparts.  In order to bridge the gap in cardiovascular health inequities prevalent in our nation, it is imperative that we mobilize additional federal support toward more vigorous and targeted preventive measures, including the critical expansion of the WISEWOMAN program.”

“The Adult Congenital Heart Association applauds Rep. Beatty and Rep. DeLauro’s initiative to broaden access to the CDC's WISEWOMAN program, an essential component in combating heart disease and strokes," stated Mark Roeder, President and CEO of ACHA. "As more patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) reach adulthood, it is crucial to grow resources for at-risk women with CHD so they have equitable access to screenings and services that influence the length and quality of their lives.”

“As a leading voice for women’s heart health, WomenHeart recognizes that heart disease is the number one cause of death for women and the need for timely screening for women with risk factors for heart disease and stroke to avoid preventable illness and death,” said WomenHeart leadership. “For these and other reasons, WomenHeart supports an amendment to the WISEWOMAN program so more women can be screened and lives can be saved.”

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. While it is more common for heart disease to strike later in life, it can happen at any age and these events are happening more often in younger women, especially Black and Hispanic women. The WISEWOMAN program provides vital access for heart disease and stroke screenings and services to low-income, uninsured or underinsured women,” said American College of Cardiology President B. Hadley Wilson, MD, FACC. “We are proud to support Rep. Beatty and Rep. DeLauro’s expansion of this important program so more at-risk women are able to participate. Prevention, early and accurate diagnosis, and treatment are critical in the fight against heart disease.”

“Heart Valve Voice-US applauds Representative Beatty and DeLauro’s introduction of the Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act,” said Linsday Videnieks, Executive Director of Heart Valve Voice-US. “A key mission of Heart Valve Voice-US is to improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of heart valve disease so that all patients receive appropriate support and the right treatment at the right time, ultimately leading to a future with greater quality and longevity of life. The Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act supports this mission by expanding heart disease and stroke risk factor screenings and services to even more low-income, uninsured or underinsured women. We are grateful to Representative Beatty for her sponsorship of this bill.”

Administered through the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, the Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) Program currently operates in a limited number of states and tribal organizations. Under existing law, women must not only be eligible for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), but also be a recipient of NBCCEDP services to be referred to WISEWOMAN. This artificially limits the number of women that the program can serve. The Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act would give CDC as well as states and tribal organizations the flexibility to develop additional pathways for referral and the authority to permit other health care providers to participate in the WISEWOMAN program. This will greatly increase the number of women the program can serve. The bill also authorizes $250 million for WISEWOMAN over the next five years to ensure the program is appropriately funded to adequately serve this increased population and expand the program nationwide.

February is American Heart Month, a time when all people – especially women – are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for 12 percent of total U.S. health expenditures, considerably more than any other disease. Specifically, heart disease and stroke cost the U.S. health care system $216 billion annually and cause $147 billion in lost job productivity. Women in the United States experience unacceptably high rates of avoidable heart-related illness and death annually, and over half of all American women do not recognize that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. Heart-health disparities specific to women become more prevalent and severe when combined with race, ethnicity, and other social factors. Heart Month aims to shed light on this largely preventable disease so that women and men get the information and care they need to live a heart-healthy life.

For inquiries, please contact Cassandra Johnson at Cassandra.Johnson@mail.house.gov.

###