At a glance
CDC is funding the health departments in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin to improve the reach, quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of asthma control services and to reduce asthma morbidity, mortality and disparities by implementing evidence-based strategies.
Overview
The Wisconsin Asthma Program (WAP) has been part of CDC's National Asthma Control Program since 2001. They work alongside partners to improve the quality of asthma care, improve asthma management in schools, and foster policies to help reduce exposure to asthma triggers in outdoor, indoor, and workplace environments.
- Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
- Cristine Rameker
- (608) 267-6845
- cristine.rameker@wisconsin.gov
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Division of Public Health Bureau of Environmental & Occupational Health
1 West Wilson Street, Room 150
P.O. Box 2659
Madison, WI 53701-2659
Highlights
The Asthma Care Program provides asthma self-management education (AS-ME) and a home environmental walkthrough to reduce adverse outcomes among people with poorly controlled asthma. Improved outcomes at 3-month follow-up included a 14% decrease in asthma emergency department (ED) visits and a 73% decrease in asthma hospitalizations.
In September 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS) approved the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) State Plan Amendment. This allowed Wisconsin to receive $3 million in funding to implement a new CHIP health services initiative to address asthma and housing-related environmental contributors for children and pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid. The pilot phase of the program began in 2014 with CDC funding. In 2019, 71 people participated in the program, which resulted in 79% fewer emergency department visits, 50% fewer hospitalizations, and 78% fewer missed school and workdays. The program was implemented in several communities by various partner organizations, and it saved families an average of nearly $800 in emergency department visits and hospitalizations. This also reflected a cost savings of $117 per patient for taxpayers. These outcomes influenced Medicaid to establish the program as a new CHIP Health Services Initiative (HIS).
In May 2022, WAP completed an air monitoring and anti-idling pilot project at two Milwaukee public schools near heavy traffic corridors and with high asthma burden. This work informed the new 3-year EPA funded project “Breathe S.M.A.R.T.,” which aims to expand project implementation through the creation of a community-based network of neighborhood-level air quality monitoring stations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, focusing on neighborhoods with high asthma burden.
What the data shows
2020
465,109 Adults with asthma
75,552 Children with asthma
In 2020, a total of 465,109 Wisconsin adults (10.2% of the adult population) had asthma and 72,552 Wisconsin children ages 0–17 (6%) had it.
2019
17,569 ER visits
1,711 Hospitalizations
In 2019, there were 17,569 emergency department (ED) visits and 1,711 hospitalizations due to asthma in Wisconsin.
Resources
EXHALE: Strategies to Help People with Asthma Breathe Easier
Controlling Childhood Asthma and Reducing Emergencies