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Heart for Women Act

Date: Sept. 23, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Women Health and Health Care


HEART FOR WOMEN ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2008)

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1014, the Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment (HEART) for Women Act. This

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legislation will go a long way in improving the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases in women.

Heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease are the leading cause of death in the United States and a major cause of disability. More than 850,000 people die of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. annually, representing nearly 36 percent of all U.S. deaths.

Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as ``man's disease,'' one in three American women die of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, making it the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women aged 65 years and older and is the second and third leading cause of death among women aged 45 to 64 years, and women aged 25 to 44 years respectively.

H.R. 1014 proposes to reduce the cardiovascular disease death rate for women through improved health education, gender-specific analysis and research, and increased access to screening for women. H.R. 1014 authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to educate health care professionals and older women about unique aspects of care in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of women with heart disease and stroke.

H.R. 1014 requires clinical data that is already being reported to the Federal Government by drug and advice manufacturers to be gender-specific. Additionally, the bill before us authorizes the expansion of the CDC's Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program. This program, currently available in only 20 States, provides free cardiovascular screenings to low-income uninsured women.

H.R. 1014 is the result of the leadership of Representative Lois Capps and Barbara Cubin and the hard work and cooperation of the Democratic and Republican members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill enjoys the support of a majority of the House of Representatives and numerous public health organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, the Society for Women's Health Research, and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

I strongly urge all of my colleagues to vote to improve the health of women by passing this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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