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Texas Governor Signs Landmark Early Heart Disease Detection Screening Legislation
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Texas State
Capitol |
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June 22,
2009 --
Today Governor Rick Perry of Texas signed HB1290, the nation's
first preventive cardiovascular
screening bill for early detection of coronary artery disease.
The legislation, which will take effect on September
1, requires Texas insurers to pay up to $200 for a either a
non-contrast computed tomography (CT) scan measuring coronary
artery calcification,
commonly known as a Calcium scoring exam, or ultrasonography
for measuring carotid intima-media thickness and plaque. |
The reimbursement is being made available to men
between 45 and 76 years of age and women between 55 and 76 who are
either diabetic or who have an intermediate or higher risk of developing
coronary artery disease, based on the Framingham Heart Study coronary
prediction algorithm. The test may be conducted every five years
by a certified laboratory.
Making these screening exams widely available
has been a primary mission of a group of distinguished preventive
cardiologists
and academic cardiovascular specialists from the Society for Heart
Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE), a Houston-based non-profit
organization advocating for early detection of future heart attack
victims.
As previously reported by Angioplasty.Org,
an analysis extrapolated from the SHAPE Task Force Report
(published
in
the American
Journal
of Cardiology July 2006) showed that the preventive screening of asymptomatic
men and women could have the following outcomes:
- Prevent more than 4,300 deaths from cardiovascular
disease each year in Texas.
- Reduce the history of heart attack currently
estimated to be 1.4 million by
as much as 25 percent in the Texas Population.
- Save approximately $1.6 billion
in healthcare costs annually.
Prediman
K. Shah, MD |
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"The passage of the first
preventive cardiovascular screening bill is a great opportunity...to
help save the lives of thousands of Texans whose hidden heart
disease goes undetected and hence untreated, partly
because non-invasive screening for hidden plaque in the arteries
is not covered by healthcare providers," said Dr. P.K. Shah,
Director of Cardiology at Cedars Sinai Heart Institute in Los
Angeles, a principal member of the SHAPE Task Force and an active
member of the American Heart Association.
"It can open a new
path in preventive cardiovascular care, the implications of which
go beyond Texas." |
"At one time, using imaging
technologies, like mammography and colonoscopy, to screen for
cancer seemed like an impractical idea, but after reimbursement
approval, they have become part of everyday medicine and have
saved countless lives," said Dr. Harvey Hecht, a prominent preventive
cardiologist at the Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute in
New York, who is also a member of the SHAPE Task Force.
Heart disease
has been the number one killer in the U.S. since 1902 (except
during the pandemic flu of 1918). According to Texas Department
of State Health Services, 32% of all deaths in Texas are caused
by cardiovascular disease. In 2007, over 1,441,000 people in
Texas reported that they have had heart disease or stroke.
With increasing Hispanic population in Texas, obesity, diabetes
and
heart disease is weighing on Texas more than other states. |
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Harvey S.
Hecht, MD |
"This is a monumental legislation that
can become a bold milestone in the history of eradicating heart attacks
in decades
to come," said Dr. Morteza Naghavi, founder of SHAPE, and Chairman
of the SHAPE Task Force who testified at the Texas House of Representative.
We are proud that Texas is poised to be the first to take this pioneering
step towards a true cardiovascular healthcare beyond the existing cardiovascular
sick-care," added
Naghavi, whose invention at the University of Texas in Houston was
funded by the State of Texas Emerging Technology initiative for commercialization.
The Texas legislation is the first in the United States to mandate
the careful and responsible implementation of a comprehensive heart
attack risk assessment and reduction strategy. It closely follows the
SHAPE Guideline for identification of apparently healthy individuals
who have a high risk of a near future heart attack but are unaware
of their risk. Approved screening procedures include: 1) the measurement
of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) by CT; and 2) the measurement
of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and plaque by ultrasonography.
These two non-invasive screening tests have proven by the National
Health Institute studies to be strong predictors of those who are vulnerable
to a heart attack or stroke.
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About SHAPE
Originated from the
Texas Medical Center in Houston, the Society for Heart Attack
Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE) is a non-profit organization
founded by Dr. Morteza Naghavi, a former faculty of the Texas
Heart Institute and the University of Texas in Houston. |
The mission of SHAPE is to promote education and
research related to mechanism, prevention, detection, and treatment
of heart attacks. The organization is committed to raising
public awareness about recent revolutionary discoveries that opened
exciting new avenues to prevent heart attack. SHAPEs mission is
to eradicate heart attacks in the 21st century. Additional information
is available on the organization's Web site at www.shapesociety.org or call 1-877-SHAPE11
About SHAPE Task Force
Chairman: Morteza Naghavi, M.D. Editorial Committee: Prediman K.
Shah, M.D. (Chief); (alphabetic order): Raymond Bahr, M.D., Daniel
Berman,
M.D., Roger Blumenthal, M.D., Matthew J. Budoff, M.D., Jay Cohn,
M.D., Erling Falk, M.D., Ph.D., Ole Faergeman, M.D., Zahi Fayad,
Ph.D., Harvey
S. Hecht, M.D., Wolfgang Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., Daniel Lane, M.D.,
Ph.D., Morteza Naghavi, M.D., John Rumberger, M.D., Ph.D., Allen
J. Taylor,
M.D. Writing Group: Erling Falk, M.D., Ph.D. (Coordinator); (alphabetic
order): Juhani Airaksinen, M.D., Dan Arking, Ph.D., Juan Badimon,
Ph.D., Raymond Bahr, M.D., Daniel Berman, M.D., Matthew J. Budoff,
M.D., Jay
Cohn, M.D., Jasenka Demirovic, M.D., Ph.D., George A. Diamond,
M.D., Pamela Douglas, M.D., Ole Faergeman, M.D., Zahi Fayad,
Ph.D., James
A. Goldstein, M.D., Harvey S. Hecht, M.D., Victoria L.M. Herrera,
M.D., Sanjay Kaul, M.D., M.P.H., Wolfgang Koenig, M.D., Ph.D.,
Robert A.
Mendes, M.D., Morteza Naghavi, M.D.; Tasneem Z. Naqvi, M.D., Ward
A. Riley, Ph.D., Yoram Rudy, PhD, John Rumberger, M.D., Ph.D.,
Leslee
Shaw, Ph.D., Robert S. Schwartz, M.D., Arturo G. Touchard, M.D.
Advisors (alphabetic order): Arthur Agagston, M.D., Stephane
Carlier, M.D.,
Ph.D., Raimund Erbel, M.D., Chris deKorte, Ph.D., Craig Hartley,
Ph.D., Ioannis Kakadiaris, Ph.D., Roxana Mehran, M.D., Ralph
Metcalfe, Ph.D.,
Daniel O'Leary, M.D., Jan Nilsson, M.D., Gerard Pasterkamp, M.D.,
Ph.D., Paul Schoenhagen, M.D., Henrik Sillesen, M.D., Ph.D.
Reported by Burt Cohen, June 22, 2009 with
supplemental material from SHAPE
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