Access to asthma medications may impact emergency department utilization of Medicaid enrollees with asthma.

Asthma is one of the leading diagnoses of hospitalizations paid for by Medicaid. In 2000, Medicaid paid for nearly 21 percent of all hospitalizations for all diagnoses, but more than 33 percent of all hospitalizations for asthma.

A study by researchers at the University of Michigan of over 19,000 Michigan Medicaid children with asthma found that 22 percent of children with asthma had visited an Emergency Department at least once during 2001.

Presenting their findings at a recent conference of Pediatric Academic Societies, the researchers found that 16 percent of Michigan Medicaid children with asthma had no short-acting bronchodilator medications and 9 percent had no asthma medication prescriptions at all. Children with short-acting bronchodilator medications in combination with other asthma medications made Emergency Department visits 23 percent less often than children with no asthma medications.