Asthma & Insurance Status
One of the recent debates related to healthcare deals with access. The theory goes that improved access will lead to better care for chronic diseases, a healthier population, and overall less costs. Realted to asthma, insurance coverage should lead to increased access and overall better asthma control. However, a study presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) did not support this common sense perception.
Among students enrolled in the Denver Public School Asthma Program, 58% of students who self-identified a regular physician reported utilization of emergency care services compared to 27% who did not self-identify a regular physician. High rates of poorly controlled symptoms, hospitalization, prednisone use, and use of emergency care were noted in both the insured and uninsured groups. Similarly, poor use of inahled steroids was noted in both groups as well.
The authors concluded that the significant numbers of students with poorly controlled asthma, irregardless of insurance status, indicates the need for programs that can identify and monitor asthma in children that may be at higher risk of asthma morbidity. Why do you think asthmatics with insurance did not do better? Do you think findings like this have implications for some of the soon to be proposed healthcare reforms?
Comments
“When reviewing the rapid increases of asthma rates in America, it is critical to recognize the link between pollution and human health, including chemical and biological pollutants in indoor environments.”
Having insurance is no guarantee that insurance covers your medical needs. Barriers created by insurance companies such as prior authorization, preferred drugs lists and gatekeepers prevent patients and doctors from making decisions that are good for the patient, based on the science and that patient’s individual needs. It’s not surprising that when you can’t breathe, a patient will turn to the ER to get immediate attention and the right medications. Following the insurance route can leave you waiting for a doctor’s appointment and then leaving a pharmacy without any medicine because the insurer doesn’t allow that one until you ‘fail first’ on another medication. Fail first – who thought that concept would ever apply to breathing! Will this change in the upcoming healthcare reform? Who knows? We may just end up with every person in American paying for insurance without any guarantee that we will be covered for anything but what the insurer wants to cover so they can make a profit. AANMA’s Asthma Awareness Day Capitol Hill on May 6, 2009 will address this issue. When patients and physicians are allowed to follow the national asthma guidelines, without interference by people who profit off the system, asthma can be controlled.
I am 22yrs. old. I was born with asthma and have struggled with it since before I can remember. I used to have medi-cal which at that time covered the cost of my inhalers. Now the only insurance I can get is CMSP. It doesn’t cover 2 of my inhalers that I desperately need. I just learned that it now does not cover the only inhaler that works for me. Just because there may be some patients with this disease that don’t use their medications like they should has nothing to do with their health insurance. It would be wonderful if there was medications available for asthmatics that low income people could afford! To have to struggle day to day and still have to find a way to manage to work without being able to breath is very hard. Nobody can fully understand how hard it is to live with asthma until they themselves are placed in that position where they feel like they are going to suffocate. California is going through a lot right now with the economy crisis. But that should not be a reason to cut insurance benefits especially for people who really do need it to live. So much money gets blown on ridiculous stuff when it should be put toward cures for asthmatics, diabetes, and cancer. Considering the growing rate of these diseases today.