Millions of heart disease and stroke patients may now have a greater opportunity to receive more affordable and timely medical care with changes to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). The American Heart Association is extremely pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has made it easier to enroll and lowered premiums to increase access for more Americans. Uninsured patients are now able to sign up for the Plan with a note from a provider confirming their illness rather than wait to be denied coverage from an insurance company and premiums will drop as much as 40 percent in 18 states. More than half of the uninsured with cardiovascular disease say cost is the primary reason for lack of coverage. These adjustments to PCIP will open doors for patients who have been unable to participate due to high premiums or difficulties getting paperwork.

We commend HHS for stepping up efforts to educate insurance companies, providers and patients about the benefits of PCIP created under the Affordable Care Act as an option for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions. These modifications will reduce the ranks of the uninsured and give more heart disease and stroke patients access to services that will improve their quality of life.

For more information, visit http://www.pcip.gov/
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Health Care Reform is certainly a hot topic this summer and into the fall. However, the American Heart Association has been talking about patient centered health care reform since 1992!

While the discussion will certainly continue, learn more about the American Heart Association's position on this important issue.

The American Heart Association has a longstanding commitment to approaching health care reform from the patient’s perspective. This focus – including the important roles that health care providers, biomedical research and the health care delivery system play – is reflected in AHA’s past and current positions on meaningful health care reform.

In 1992, AHA’s Board of Directors approved five key principles for access to health care. They concentrated on patient access to preventive services and quality health care and continued biomedical research to improve the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke.

More than 15 years later, some progress has been made in achieving this vision – particularly with regard to developing guidelines for appropriate patient care and methods to measure quality, evaluate outcomes and determine cost-effectiveness.

However, more Americans than ever lack health insurance, presenting a major barrier to receiving quality health care. These include children with congenital heart disease, who formerly would have died, but now survive to confront these challenges. And after an initial doubling, the National Institutes of Health’s budget has fallen flat with an actual reduction in purchasing power because funding has failed to keep pace with biomedical research inflation.

In this summary document, AHA updates what it believes to be the six critical principles that must be addressed if health care in the United States is to be effective, equitable and excellent.

Use this link to read about the critical principles or visit www.heartforhealthcare.org

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released updated data for Selected Metropolitan/Micropolitan Area Risk Trends (or SMART BRFSS), with local community data and statistics relating to risk factors (including cholesterol awareness, diabetes, fruit and vegetable consumption, healthcare access/coverage, hypertension awareness, overweight and obesity, and physical activity). The updated tool allows users to compare data for states, counties and cities from 2002 through 2008.

See the SMART BRFSS data and prevalence tables here: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/BRFSS-SMART/

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2009 -- The President has reminded us that health care reform is not about politics, it’s about real people who wake up each day hoping that a medical emergency won’t throw them into bankruptcy. We all agree that the current health care system is not working well for the insured, it’s not working well for the underinsured and it’s certainly not working for the uninsured. That’s why we’re pleased the President has brought the debate back to where it started – focusing on the needs of Americans who cannot access affordable, quality health care. We cannot forget the children with congenital heart defects who surpass their lifetime insurance coverage limits before they’re toddlers, we cannot forget the families who lose their homes because of high out-of-pocket medical expenses to treat a chronic illness, and we cannot forget those who go without needed, even lifesaving care because they can’t access or afford insurance. Their stories must be the reason why Congress must continue in their efforts to find common ground and pass meaningful health reform this year. We urge Congress to not lose sight of the goal we all share - to build upon what works in our health care system and fix those parts that are broken and simply unsustainable.