Question

how does cost and access affects asthma in new york city?

Answer 1

Ans) CDC Study Puts Economic Burden of Asthma at More Than $80 Billion Per Year. Asthma costs the U.S. economy more than $80 billion annually in medical expenses, days missed from work and school, and deaths, according to research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

- The disease also drives higher insurance premiums for New Yorkers with privately paid health coverage. Including Medicaid costs, the State Department of Health (DOH) recently estimated the annual overall cost of asthma in New York at $1.3 billion in direct medical costs and lost productivity.

- Asthma tends to be a lifelong condition with a high burden. The asthmatic patients often use emergency care, sometimes requiring hospital admission, and have a high number of school days missed and workdays lost. In addition, it can cause early permanent disability and premature death.

- The economic burden of asthma is an important measure of its effect on society. Although it is recognized that asthma is a costly illness, the total cost of asthma to society has not been estimated in most countries. Asthma-related costs are high and should be systematically monitored using standardized methods; they should consider the natural history of the disease, incidence and prevalence trends, environmental impact, comorbidities, quality of life, ageing of the population, the effect of guidelines implementation and differences in national health systems and income levels.

- In the last decades, several guidelines, both global (e.g. GINA) and at national/regional levels, were created trying to delineate better diagnosis and treatment strategies, emphasizing that achieving clinical control and reducing future risk should be the primary targets of asthma management; moreover, they propose approaches that promote a more adequate use of healthcare resources and should present as cost-effective strategies. However, the estimated costs of asthma can still be considered substantial, stressing the need for more comprehensive approaches that can be fully implemented in different settings.

- The management programs represent a cost-effective strategy for the control of asthma at a country level, and that the economic burden of asthma can be decreased with improved access to preventive care and early treatment.