NEW: Bill To Provide Cardiac Screening for Urban, At-Risk Women
Thursday, May 12, 2011
A cardiovascular disease screening and lifestyle-intervention pilot program for at-risk women in the state’s urban communities would be implemented by a new bill that yesterday passed the RI Senate.
Cardiovascular diseases claim more women’s lives each year than the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer, according to the American Heart Association. They are the No. 1 killer of women over age 20, killing about one woman every minute and, ultimately, one in three American women. Eighty percent of cardiac events in women may be prevented by making the good choices involving diet, exercise and smoking.
The Senate approved legislation (2011-S 0060 A) sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth A. Crowley in conjunction with the AHA, to establish a state program emulating the federal WISEWOMAN program administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That initiative provides chronic disease risk-factor screening, lifestyle intervention, and referral services to low-income, underinsured or uninsured women between 40 and 64 years of age in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease and promote healthy lifestyles. The bill will now be forwarded to the House of Representatives, where Rep. Eileen S. Naughton (D-Dist. 21, Warwick) is sponsoring similar legislation (2011-H 5173).
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Core Cities Targeted
Under the bill, the RI Department of Health would develop a cardiovascular disease screening and lifestyle-intervention pilot program in one of the state’s six core cities – Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, Woonsocket, Newport and West Warwick – for low-income, underinsured and uninsured women between 40 and 64 years of age who are at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. It would provide standard preventive services, including blood pressure and cholesterol testing and lifestyle programs targeting poor nutrition, physical inactivity and smoking.
The program, which would initially run through July 1, 2014, would be required to measure its impact by recording, among other things, the number of women served, the number who receive lifestyle interventions and the progress in reducing risk factors for those women. The Department of Health would issue an annual report comparing the cardiovascular health of the women in the program to data on the cardiovascular health of women nationally, and in its third year would make recommendations on whether the program, which would be subject to an annual appropriation, should be expanded statewide.
The Center for Disease Control estimates that the cost to provide cardiovascular risk reduction services to one participant is about $400. According to the Department of Health, in 2007 Rhode Island’s average inpatient hospital charges for a primary diagnosis of heart disease and stroke were $36,202 and $28,716, respectively.
“As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With this program, we can spend $400 now and prevent a $36,000 cost later. This is a wise investment,” said Senator Crowley.
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