Transforming Health for Georgia’s Retired Educators: Life Line Screening and GREA Announce New Partnership

Life Line Screening and the Georgia Retired Educators Association (GREA) are pleased to announce a partnership aimed at safeguarding the health of over 33,000 GREA members. Through this collaboration, members will gain access to essential preventive health screenings provided by Life Line Screening, focused on early detection of cardiovascular disease and stroke risks.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240626373462/en/

(Graphic: Business Wire)

Cardiovascular disease claims over 700,000 lives annually in the United States, making it the leading cause of death, with stroke following closely behind as the 5th leading cause.1 However, there is hope, as the World Health Organization estimates that 80% of heart disease is preventable.2 Early detection is crucial, offering better outcomes and more effective intervention options for chronic diseases.

"This partnership underscores our commitment to the well-being of Georgia’s retired educators. By providing access to these critical screenings, we are empowering our members to take charge of their health by enabling proactive insights into potentially life-threatening conditions," said Dr. William G. Sloan, Jr., Executive Director of GREA.

Matt Miller, CEO of Life Line Screening, added, "We are thrilled to have the Georgia Retired Educators Association choose Life Line Screening to screen it’s members. The GREA understands that cardiovascular disease is growing at a rapid rate across the US and providing our cardiovascular health & risk of stroke screening will greatly support the health and longevity of its members.”

GREA members will benefit from the following five vital screenings:

  • Carotid Artery Ultrasound: Detects plaque buildup, which causes approximately 10-15% of strokes.3
  • Ankle-Brachial Index: Screens for peripheral arterial disease, which increases stroke and amputation risks.
  • 6-Lead EKG: Identifies atrial fibrillation, raising stroke risk by 5 times.4
  • Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Ultrasound: Detects aneurysms that often show no symptoms but can be catastrophic if they rupture.
  • Osteoporosis Risk Assessment: Identifies risk for osteoporosis, responsible for over 2 million bone fractures annually.5

The screenings are non-invasive, painless, and take about one hour to complete, offering a quick and efficient way to prioritize health and the leverage the value of early detection.

The Georgia Retired Educators Association began in 1958 as Georgia Retired Teachers Association. The organization has evolved, through sixty-four years of specialization and diversity of educational roles, and adopted its current name in 1998 to better describe the membership potential. GREA continues to be the only organization that concentrates exclusively on the needs of Georgia retired educators. Our mission is to unite retired educators in Georgia for fellowship, support, and educational/community service and to improve benefits for all retired educators through cooperation with local, state and national organizations.

Life Line Screening is the nation’s leading provider of preventive health screenings, having screened over 10,000,000 individuals over the last 31 years, with a focus on early detection of cardiovascular disease and stroke risk as well as a number of other screening tests for cancer, diabetes, and more. Life Line Screening will hold almost 15,000 community-based screening events in 2024 and will screen almost 700,000 individuals. These screenings are accomplished not only through direct-to-consumer campaigns but also through a number of strategic partnerships with insurance companies, larger employers, member associations, municipalities, and more.

1 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html 2 World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/europe/health-topics/cancer/cardiovascular-diseases#tab=tab_1 3 Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carotid-artery-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20360519#:~:text=Ischemic%20stroke,-An%20ischemic%20stroke&text=Carotid%20artery%20disease%20causes%20about,Reduced%20blood%20flow. 4 American Heart Association, https://www.heart.org/-/media/Files/Health-Topics/Atrial-Fibrillation/FAQ-About-AFib.pdf 5 Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation, Osteoporosis-Fast-Facts-2.pdf (bonehealthandosteoporosis.org)

Rebecca Piccoli, media@llsa.com