Congress expands free heart-health screenings for low-income women
S. 3944 — Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act of 2026 · Filed by Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 26, 2026 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill reauthorizes and expands the WISEWOMAN program, a CDC-run initiative that provides preventive health screenings and education to low-income women. It adds funding ($250 million over five years) to expand cardiovascular risk screening, health education, and medical referrals, and requires a government audit to assess program reach, effectiveness, and barriers to access.
Why we flagged it
The bill straightforwardly reauthorizes and expands an existing CDC preventive health program for underserved women, with explicit funding and a mandated evaluation mechanism. It is routine public health legislation with clear civic purpose.
What the text implies
- Expansion of WISEWOMAN may increase identification of undiagnosed cardiovascular disease in low-income women, potentially creating demand for downstream treatment services that may strain safety-net health systems if not adequately funded.
- The bill authorizes 'other health care entities' beyond existing breast/cervical cancer screening programs to deliver services, which could broaden the provider network but may introduce quality or consistency variation if oversight is insufficient.
- GAO study requirement creates accountability mechanism but also signals potential legislative concern about program reach or cost-effectiveness — results could inform future funding or scope decisions.
Who it affects
Low-income women gain expanded access to preventive cardiovascular screening, education, and referral services at no out-of-pocket cost. The program targets a population with documented health disparities and barriers to preventive care, and the mandated GAO study ensures accountability and evidence-based program improvement.
Who stands to gain
- community health centers
- federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)
- public health departments
- CDC contractors and grantees
Named in the bill
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WISEWOMAN program, Public Health Service Act, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Government Accountability Office (GAO), Comptroller General
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Feb 26, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 26, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
- Mar 19, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $430,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 30 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Angela Alsobrooks, the sponsor, reported $493,679 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Heart Association — $400,000 on 1 filing
- Association of Black Cardiologists — $30,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 9, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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