Congressional legislation introduced August 5, 2026, known as the Stroke Act, was led by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) with ten cosponsors including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The bill is intended to improve the quality of stroke care nationwide by supporting research, establishing a national registry, strengthening systems of care, improving access to rehabilitation and recovery services, and expanding public education and prevention efforts. The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Stroke Association (ASA), a division of the AHA, publicly endorsed the legislation and urged Congress to advance it quickly.
The Stroke Act would authorize federal investments in several domains: research to improve stroke care delivery, standardized data collection to identify gaps in prevention and treatment, systems improvement across the continuum of care, and national public education campaigns. The legislation’s stated aim is to ensure more patients receive timely, evidence-based care by supporting activities from emergency response through rehabilitation and long-term recovery.
A central element of the bill is the creation of a national stroke registry to collect standardized stroke care and outcomes data and to inform quality improvement. The legislation directs that the registry should leverage established systems rather than creating a duplicative reporting framework. Specific technical details, governance structure and funding levels for the registry were not reported in the source.
The Stroke Act would strengthen stroke systems of care and promote adoption of best practices to improve patient outcomes. The bill would support training programs for emergency medical services personnel and health care providers, aiming to ensure patients receive the right care, at the right time, and in the right setting. It also encourages improved care coordination after acute stroke to support recovery and rehabilitation.
The legislation includes provisions to expand the use of tele-stroke technologies so patients can access specialized stroke expertise regardless of geography. In addition to acute treatment improvements, the bill would work to improve access to rehabilitation and recovery services, and to strengthen coordination across care settings. The source did not provide specific implementation timelines or funding amounts for these components.
The Stroke Act would establish funding for national public education and awareness campaigns focused on stroke prevention, risk factors and symptom recognition. The American Stroke Association promotes the B.E. F.A.S.T. mnemonic—Balance loss, Eye or vision changes, Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty—followed by Time to call 911. For Spanish-speaking communities, the ASA endorses R.Á.P.I.D.O., a culturally relevant set of warning signs and a Spanish-language website (DerrameCerebral.org) offering prevention, treatment and recovery resources tailored to Hispanic and Latino audiences.
The legislation’s requirement to build on existing systems aligns closely with the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke quality improvement program. That program already collects standardized stroke care and outcomes data, supports benchmarking and engages a network of stroke centers and hospitals. The Stroke Act seeks to leverage such established infrastructure rather than mandate separate duplicative reporting.
The AHA and ASA praised the legislation’s potential to increase understanding of stroke care, improve treatment quality, and save lives. The AHA reiterated the public-health burden of stroke—nearly 800,000 people in the United States experience a stroke each year and stroke is among the leading causes of death—and emphasized that many strokes are preventable and that rapid recognition of symptoms can be lifesaving. The organizations thanked Sen. Luján for championing the bill and urged Congress to move the legislation forward promptly.
The AHA and ASA provided links to relevant resources including the American Stroke Association website, Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke, Spanish-language stroke resources, B.E. F.A.S.T. materials, and a report on Hispanic/Latino stroke risk and prevention. The source listed contact information for media and the public but did not report legislative next steps, budgetary figures or an implementation schedule for the bill.