A new House bill has added priorities for heart disease and stroke. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
+ Regulatory
Amanda Rupp | Jul 15, 2016

House bill adds priorities for heart disease, stroke

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently reported that the Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill, House fiscal year 2017, features positive and negative changes for U.S. citizens who have cardiovascular disease.

Positive changes include an additional $15 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) division dedicated to heart disease and stroke. This amounts to over $45 million more than what the Senate originally budgeted. The Million Hearts and WISEWOMAN programs also gained more funding.

“We commend the committee for directing the CDC to support heart disease and stroke prevention efforts by state, local and tribal public health departments in communities with the highest burden of disease,” AHA President Steven Houser said.

The AHA applauds the increased budget for this important health concern.

"Growing the NIH's budget is essential to finding new therapies for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease,” Houser said. “For the first time in many years, the NIH budget saw a modest increase last year. This year, we were hoping House members would follow their Senate colleagues and provide a bigger and much-needed boost. Instead, they recommended fewer federal dollars for the agency, which could mean even less support for research into cardiovascular disease -- our nation's number-one and most-costly killer.”

Unfortunately, the new budget decreases funds dedicated to the current CDC tobacco prevention and control program.

"We were also disappointed that the committee cut the CDC tobacco prevention and control program by $34,000 ($110,000 million below the Senate’s mark),” Houser said. “A sodium-related legislative rider that may make it difficult for the CDC to continue to pursue community-based sodium reduction efforts also is cause for concern.”

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