Costs of Adult and Childhood Asthma
A 1997 report by Smith, Malone, Lawson, Okamoto, Battista, & Saunders estimated that the national cost and resource utilization by adult and child asthma sufferers totaled $5.8 billion per year in 1994 dollars. The estimated direct costs were $5.1 billion (1994 dollars) which included costs related to prescription medications, office visits, outpatient hospital visits, emergency room visits, and hospital stays. The estimated indirect costs were $673 million (1994 dollars) which included costs associated with lost work productivity.
This cost estimate for adult and childhood asthma in Oregon attributable to environmental contaminants is based on the following assumptions:
- $5.8 billion in asthma related health care costs in 1994 dollars updated to $8.2 billion in 2007 dollars;
- Direct health care costs of $5.1 billion in 1994 dollars updated to $7.2 billion in 2007 dollars;
- Indirect health care costs of $673 million in 1994 dollars updated to $954.5 million in 2007 dollars; and
- Costs in Oregon are 1.22% of the national costs (based on population).
- An EAF of 30% and a range of 10-35%,
Using these assumptions, the annual costs of adult and childhood asthma in Oregon are $100.0 million in 2007 dollars. This estimate is comprised of $87.8 million in direct costs and $11.6 million in indirect costs. Applying the EAFs of 0.10, 0.30, and 0.35 yielded the following results:
- EAF 0.10 = $10,000,000
- EAF 0.30 = $30,000,000
- EAF 0.35 = $35,000,000
Using these assumptions, the best estimate of the annual costs of adult and childhood asthma attributable to environmental contaminants in Oregon is $30.0 million in 2007 dollars (comprising an estimated $26.3 million in direct health care costs and $3.5 million in indirect costs), with a range of $10.0 -35.0 million.
The environmentally attributable costs of adult and childhood asthma in Oregon are estimated at $30.0 million per year, with a range of $10.0 to $35.0 million.
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