Finance Policy for Public Health Disease Prevention: Addressing the Number One Cause of Death in the Western World

Background: The lack of a finance policy to cover heart coronary artery disease CT imaging led to an epidemic of heart disease, the most common cause of death in the United States. The difficulty for many adults to pay $150 for CT heart imaging was the impetus for public health reform through legislative intervention. Methods: The key to finance policy reform was the organization of the medical environment involved in asymptomatic heart disease. Using the ecosystem paradigm for organizational alignment, the legislative goal was financing the $150 heart image to identify and medically prevent symptomatic heart disease, obviating future surgical costs of >$100,000. Results: Assisted by stakeholders for public health reform, a 3-year initiative to pass a legislative bill mandating health insurance coverage of $150 heart imaging was signed into law. Understanding the legislative process was necessary for successful advancement of public health and eliminating unnecessary costs of an established conservative ecosystem. Conclusions: Texas was the first state to achieve this legislative goal and New Mexico soon followed. If political environments, regardless of country following this road map of public health reform, a significant beneficial impact upon heart disease, its cost, and healthier public would result.