“The health care system that produced such rapid development and has driven the dramatic reduction in the incidence of death from heart disease over the past 40 years is a national treasure and deserves to be preserved and protected.”

A recent New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com * reported that quote from former Vice President Dick Cheney.
“Former Vice President Dick Cheney was so close to death in 2010 that he said farewell to his family members and instructed them to have his body cremated and the ashes returned to Wyoming, he writes in a new book on his long battle with heart disease.”
“Mr. Cheney ultimately survived the emergency surgery that night and went on to have a heart transplant at age 71 that has left him re-energized five years after leaving office. But for the first time, he describes a 35-year medical struggle that he kept generally private in vivid personal detail.” * to read the full NYTs article ”In New Book, Cheney Recalls 5 Heart Attacks and His Brush With Death” by Peter Baker and Julie Bosman, highlight and click on open hyperlink http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/us/politics/in-new-book-cheney-recalls-5-heart-attacks-and-his-brush-with-death.html?_r=0