State Advocacy Leaders Call For Member Involvement as 2025 Legislative Sessions Convene

As state legislators start to convene for 2025 legislative sessions, ACC Chapters are working to tackle the most pressing issues facing cardiovascular clinicians and patients and meeting with lawmakers to represent the cardiovascular community.

Neerav Sheth, MD, FACC, chair of ACC Pennsylvania's Health Affairs Committee, and Sammy Zakaria, MD, FACC, governor of ACC Maryland, are calling on their colleagues to get involved early with their chapters to help their states achieve their 2025 advocacy goals.

"Get involved in your state chapters," said Sheth. "That's the best way to be involved in the process."

The pair discuss the regulatory hurdles that impact delivery of care in their states and how chapter advocacy can bring about solutions.

"One of the specific areas I'm working on is providing ambulatory blood pressure monitors for pregnant and postpartum women in Pennsylvania to lower the risk of dying and complications," said Sheth. " There are gaps all across Pennsylvania for this and we are making strides to improve care."

Zakaria shares how his experience responding to a cardiac event at a restaurant inspired his involvement in advocating for AED access in the state of Maryland. "It became a passion for myself and several of my colleagues in the ACC, and we started advocating for increased access in restaurants, schools and other public places."

ACC Chapters made great progress in several ACC Advocacy Priorities throughout 2024, including sudden cardiac arrest awareness and preparedness, banning noncompetes for health care professionals, reforming prior authorization processes and more. Advocacy leaders in chapters across the country are now working to ensure 2025 sees even greater victories for cardiology and public health.

Several states have already held meetings with state decisionmakers to build up relationships with lawmakers and secure champions for priority issues impacting both patients and the profession.

ACC Advocates in Virginia met with State Senator Schuyler T. VanValkenburg to discuss reforming the state's noncompete agreement law to include health care workers. Members of ACC's New York Chapter met with New York Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Michaelle Solages, who has expressed interest in establishing cardiac emergency response plans in schools, reforming prior authorization and improving maternal health outcomes in the state.

Members of ACC's Alaska Chapter also recently hosted State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson and State Representative Andrew Gray at the Alaska Heart and Vascular Institute. During these practice visits, CPR education in schools, prior authorization reform and increasing access to cardiac rehabilitation services where key topics of discussion.

For more on how to get involved in state-level advocacy in the year ahead, reach out to your local chapter or contact Michael Lawrence from ACC's State Government Affairs Team.

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Keywords: ACC Advocacy, State Government, Cardiology