LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
The Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF)’s advocacy effort is focused on saving lives and improving the quality of life for children with cardiomyopathy and their families. CCF has been active on a variety of federal and state advocacy issues, with the primary focus on federal legislation.
Our Advocacy Focus
CCF’s federal advocacy work is focused on these priorities:
- Increasing cardiomyopathy research
- Promoting public awareness and education
- Encouraging early and accurate diagnosis
- Improving survival from sudden cardiac arrest
- Ensuring access to specialized and quality care
To learn more about CCF’s legislative and health policy agenda, click here.
Key Legislative Initiatives
Over the years, CCF has been actively involved in supporting several legislative initiatives focused on cardiomyopathy and prevention of sudden cardiac death. Individuals can advance cardiomyopathy-related legislation by contacting their congressional representatives and sharing their personal story of how cardiomyopathy has impacted their life. As their constituent, this gives them a compelling reason to support our cause.
Appropriations Language Requests
The Foundation actively encourages Members of Congress to support the needs of those with cardiomyopathy through the inclusion of cardiomyopathy specific language in appropriations bills. Each year, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense releases its list of approved research areas for funding under the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). Cardiomyopathy was first listed as an approved research topic in 2018 and represents a new source of research funding for pediatric cardiomyopathy that needs to be renewed every year.
Additionally, CCF will request the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittees to address the unmet education and awareness needs of the cardiomyopathy community. This includes advocating for the CDC to integrate information about the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of pediatric cardiomyopathy into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) existing programs, including the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, the Division of Reproductive Health, the National Center for Birth Defects, and Development Disabilities, and its Division of Population Health. Additionally, CCF asks that Congress encourage the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) to continue funding the North America Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry.
Cardiomyopathy HEARTS Act
The Cardiomyopathy Health, Education, Awareness, Risk Assessment, and Training in the Schools (HEARTS) Act was first introduced by Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. in December 2011 and Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg in February 2012. In September 2017, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) reintroduced the Cardiomyopathy HEARTS Act (H.R. 3880) to help raise awareness of cardiomyopathy across the lifespan and identify undiagnosed children at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. First, the legislation proposes to develop educational materials and resources on cardiomyopathy with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and disseminating them to school administrators, educators, and families. Second, the bill requests the CDC to collect and analyze data to identify the impact, prevalence, and natural history of cardiomyopathy. Lastly, the bill directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to assess the current research needs and projects related to cardiomyopathy. Issue Brief
SAFE PLAY Act
The Supporting Athletes, Families, and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth (SAFE PLAY) Act was introduced by Reps. Lois Capps (CA-24), Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) on July 2014 to promote safety guidelines for youth athletes. It was reintroduced in February 2020 by Sen. Menendez and Rep. Pascrell. The SAFE PLAY Act is comprehensive legislation that focuses on various sports safety issues, such as heat exposure, CPR and AED training, concussion response, and energy drink consumption. It also encourages best practices on preventing, documenting, and addressing cardiac emergencies, and includes provisions for educating parents, schools, and health professionals about higher-risk heart conditions such as cardiomyopathy. The bill helps to identify student athletes who may be at higher risk by requiring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and disseminate educational resources that would encourage families to evaluate their cardiac health history, check for cardiomyopathy symptoms, and seek medical screening if necessary. The bill would provide grants to states for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in public schools, as well as set guidelines for emergency preparedness in case of an adverse cardiac event. In addition, the CDC would provide national data on how many student athletes are impacted by cardiomyopathy and other cardiac conditions, as well as concussions and heat-related illnesses. Issue Brief
Additional information about CCF legislative priorities can be found on the Public Policy Resources page.