Champion Access to Care For All

Diverse communities with varying geographical and socioeconomic factors face unique health challenges and growing disparities in care. The ACC is committed to supporting education and awareness among populations disproportionately affected by cardiovascular conditions, providing actionable data and tools to address health disparities and advancing policies to distribute critical research funding.

  • 200,000 patients*

    suffer avoidable PAD-related amputations every year
    *National Institutes of Health

  • 30% lower access*

    to specialists in rural areas
    *National Rural Health Association

ACC in Action

  • In 2026, ACC Chapters in California, Delaware, New York, Vermont and several other states have participated in lobby days to advocate for increasing access to AEDs, streamlining prior authorization processes and improving access to preventive cardiovascular care.
  • ACC President Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC, submitted testimony to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, urging increased funding for federal health agencies and full funding for the Cardiomyopathy Health, Education, Awareness, Research and Training in Schools (HEARTS) Act to make AEDs available in public elementary and secondary schools.
  • Contributing to ACC's work as a member of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, ACC State Chapters have played a major role in advocating for the successful passage of AED access legislation in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia. Chapters in Wisconsin and Massachusetts are also seeing progress on this issue.
  • Members of ACC’s Reproductive Health & Cardio-Obstetrics Member Section partnered with ACC Advocacy to hold their second virtual Hill Day event, meeting with congressional offices to encourage support for the Connected Maternal Online Monitoring (MOM) Act (H.R. 4977/S. 141) and the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act (H.R. 1254/S. 380).
  • The ACC participated in the National Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Advocacy Summit on Capitol Hill, hosted by Every 100th Heart, along with over 200 CHD advocates.

Policy Progress

  • Congress passed 2026 funding legislation in February, authorizing support for state-based maternal mortality review committees through 2030. This was a priority issue for the ACC and the Reproductive Health & Cardio-Obstetrics Member Section.
  • With support from the ACC, the Residential AED and CPR Preparedness Act (H.R. 9058) was introduced into Congress, establishing funding for AED placement and emergency action plan development in federally assisted multifamily housing.
  • The HEARTS Act, which aims to educate the public about cardiomyopathy and support the placement of AEDs in schools, was signed into law in December 2024. The ACC continues to advocate for full funding of this legislation in fiscal year 2026.
  • The Women's Heart Health Expansion Act of 2026 (H.R. 7417), which would reauthorize and remove outdated eligibility restrictions in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WISEWOMAN program, was reintroduced into Congress.
  • The Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meal Program Pilot Act (H.R. 5439/S.2834), which would establish a Medicare pilot program to deliver medically tailored meals to patients with diet-related chronic disease was introduced into Congress.

Get Involved

Improve Access to Maternal Health Monitoring Tools

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