Medication Costs and Health Care Use in Child Asthma

In this video, Dana Goldman, PhD, Director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, discusses the results of a Journal of the American Medical Association study analyzing the effects of cost increases in children’s asthma medication. Using insurance claims, the study authors identified 8800 children being treated with long-term asthma medication and then analyzed data about them to establish how often patients filled prescriptions for daily medications and estimated actual medication use. The study authors then compared use of other medical services, including hospital stays and emergency room visits, to determine whether those services were also affected.