On August 7, 2008, WLF filed a petition with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to revise its reimbursement policies regarding BiDil, a drug approved by FDA for treating heart failure among African-Americans. WLF charged that CMS policy is aggravating a serious healthcare problem among blacks: the undertreatment of heart failure. Fewer than 2% of all black Medicare beneficiaries suffering from heart failure are being treated with BiDil. Given that blacks suffer from heart failure at rates more than twice that of whites, the undertreatment problem not only is a healthcare issue but also raises concerns regarding racial equality, WLF charged. WLF said that CMS is inappropriately denying insurance coverage for BiDil and instead promoting a less-expensive “generic substitute” — even though FDA has determined that there is no generic substitute for BiDil.