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Hypertension Initiative to provide SC legislators with health screening  Members of the South Carolina House and Senate will have the opportunity to participate in a health screening at the State House on Feb. 1. Cardiovascular disease is South Carolina's number one health problem. According to the American Heart Associations Stroke Task Force, hospital costs for cardiovascular disease in South Carolina are a staggering $3.2 billion a year.  Sponsored and conducted by the Hypertension Initiative of South Carolina, the screening will include measurements of blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose.  “The screening will give the individual legislators a better understanding of their own health status,” said Brent Egan, M.D., interim medical director of the initiative and professor of pharmacology and medicine at MUSC. “But more important, it will raise the level of awareness of issues affecting the health of South Carolinians.”