Advocating for Heart Health: Our 2025 State Policy Priorities
Everyone deserves the chance to live a long, healthy life. That’s why we’re focused on advancing policies that improve cardiovascular health and reduce the impact of heart disease and stroke. As we look ahead, these are the key state and community priorities we’re championing across Louisiana.
State Policy Priorities
Protect Access to Healthcare Coverage
Access to affordable, quality care is essential for preventing and managing heart disease and stroke. We support protecting Medicaid access and expanding presumptive Medicaid coverage for pregnant women to ensure timely care and healthier outcomes.
School Food Access and Quality
Nutritious meals are vital to student health and academic success. We support “Time to Eat” policies that ensure students in Louisiana have enough time to eat during school meals, helping build lifelong healthy eating habits.
Food is Medicine
Nutrition plays a powerful role in managing chronic conditions. We support Food is Medicine pilot projects that provide healthy food to treat or manage specific clinical conditions – such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease – in a way that is integrated with and paid for by the health care sector. These programs also help expand the evidence base for FIM interventions, demonstrating their potential to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
Public Health Funding
Investing in public health is critical to preventing heart disease and stroke. We advocate for public funding to support state or local programs that address cardiovascular health and its key risk factors – such as high blood pressure and tobacco use.
Paid Family Medical Leave
Access to paid leave helps people manage serious health conditions, care for loved ones, and bond with a new child – without risking their income or job security. We support policies that ensure K-12 school employees have access to paid family and medical leave with sufficient time off and wage replacement to meet personal and family health needs.
Community Policy Priorities
Smoke Free Air
Support the adoption of a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in Jefferson Parish to protect all workers – including those in bars and casinos – from exposure to secondhand smoke. In St. Tammany, build on the existing policy to extend smoke-free environments beyond parish-owned buildings to include all workplaces and public spaces, fostering healthier communities for everyone.
Healthier Options at Restaurants
Support policies that ensure children’s meals at restaurants meet healthy nutrition standards, including offering healthy default beverages like water or milk. These changes can help share lifelong eating habits and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Join Us in Making a Difference
These priorities reflect our commitment to building healthier communities through science, advocacy, and action. Whether it’s expanding access to care, improving school health, or creating safer public spaces, we’re working every day to ensure that heart health is a priority for all.
Your voice matters. If you’re already part of American Heart Association Heart Powered, watch for upcoming alerts and opportunities to take action on these efforts. Not a member yet? Join at heartpowered.org/join today and help us drive change that saves lives.