Asthma costs New York state $1.3 billion each year, study shows
ALBANY— Asthma is costing New York’s Medicaid system more than half a billion dollars a year, according to a report released Friday that urges the state to do more to help those affected by the respiratory illness.
The study by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that Medicaid costs related to asthma were $532 million in 2013, an increase of more than 26 percent over five years.
When all non-Medicaid hospitalizations and treatment and lost productivity associated with asthma are counted, the overall cost of the illness to New York rises to $1.3 billion a year, according to an estimate from the state’s Department of Health.