United States Senators Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, and Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, introduced the Bipartisan Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act on Monday to reauthorize and expand access to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation program, known as WISEWOMAN. The program provides free cardiovascular risk screenings for low-income, uninsured and underinsured women ages 35-64 to help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
“Americans deserve ample access to critical health services, particularly as it relates to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in our country,” Britt said. “We know that women are at a higher risk of being affected by heart diseases as conditions often present differently in women. Through the Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act, we have an opportunity to expand access to potentially lifesaving resources—like cardiovascular screenings—to those who need them most.”
Britt and Alsobrooks introduced the measure during American Heart Month. Supporters say the program helps participants understand and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease through early detection and treatment.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for about 12 percent of total United States health expenditures, more than any other disease, according to Britt’s office. Heart disease and stroke cost the United States health care system an estimated $216 billion annually and contribute to $147 billion in lost job productivity, Britt’s office said.
“Nearly every family has been touched in some way by heart disease and stroke, as the leading cause of death for women in Maryland, Alabama, and across the country,” Alsobrooks said. “We must do all we can to prevent this disease and ultimately save lives. The Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act provides critical screenings and services to help women catch and treat heart disease early.”
Britt’s office said significant racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities persist in heart-disease prevalence and mortality, and that more than half of American women do not recognize heart disease as the leading cause of death for women.
Under current law, women must be eligible for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and also receive services through that program to be referred to WISEWOMAN, Britt’s office said. Britt’s office also said WISEWOMAN currently operates in a limited number of states and tribal organizations, which restricts access for women at highest risk.
The bill would allow the CDC, states and tribal organizations to create additional referral pathways and would permit other health care providers to participate in WISEWOMAN, expanding access, Britt’s office said. The measure would authorize $250 million for WISEWOMAN over the next five years.
Britt’s office said she has backed other health care measures, including the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act, which would eliminate copays and other out-of-pocket costs for breast cancer diagnostic tests, and the bipartisan NIH Improve Act, aimed at ensuring consistent research funding related to maternal care and mortality.
