Community Health/Outreach Worker Tool

As of January 1, 2014, a new Medicaid rule allows reimbursement for preventive services delivered by non-licensed providers, upon recommendation from a licensed Medicaid provider. ASTHO's website contains resources related to the new Medicaid rule, including examples of successful strategies for preventive service delivery by non-licensed providers such as Community Health Workers (CHWs), and other resources related to the adaptation, licensure, and support of CHWs.

Since 1997, the “free care” rule has stated that Medicaid will not pay for services that are offered to the general public free of charge. The rule has stood as a significant barrier for schools to receive Medicaid reimbursement for health services provided to students enrolled in Medicaid. On December 15, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a letter to State Medicaid Directors informing them of a decision to withdraw prior regulatory guidance on the free care rule. The following Q&A explains how this important reversal of Medicaid policy will impact coverage of school-based interventions for low-income children with asthma.

A new study challenges the widely held belief that inner-city children have a higher risk of asthma simply because of where they live. Race, ethnicity and income have much stronger effects on asthma risk than where children live, the Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers reported. The investigators looked at more than 23,000 children, aged 6 to 17, across the United States and found that asthma rates were 13 percent among inner-city children and 11 percent among those in suburban or rural areas.
But that small difference vanished once other variables were factored in, according to the study published online Jan. 20 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Poverty increased the risk of asthma, as did being from certain racial/ethnic groups. Asthma rates were 20 percent for Puerto Ricans, 17 percent for blacks, 10 percent for whites, 9 percent for other Hispanics, and 8 percent for Asians, the study found.

As CHWs become a more significant part of the healthcare workforce, states have taken a variety of approaches to supporting and regulating this group. This report by Harvard Law School's Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation is designed to review some of the major policies in different states and highlight some of the issues that arise in these programs. There is no single right approach. With sufficient stakeholder engagement, each state can develop policies tailored for its community.

Material educativo que ayuda a familias con alergias y asma a eliminar los alérgenos que causan síntomas al interior del hogar, la escuela o en os lugares donde el niño juega.

A practical and family friendly tool to learn about the direct correlation between indoor air quality and improved allergy and asthma symptoms.

Wellapets is an educational virtual pet game for phones and tablets which teaches and motivates kids ages 6-11 to manage asthma by caring for a lovable pet that also has asthma. Wellapets is created by LifeGuard Games in Boston with pediatricians and other clinicians in the area.

Article posted in Allergy & Asthma Today Magazine, Winter 2013.

The FlowBrush™ is the latest asthma monitoring technology developed to assist asthma patients. The FlowBrush Asthma Surveillance Telemedicine (FAST) is a national program helps identify asthma attacks at the earliest stages, allowing preventive measures to be implemented before expensive ER visits and hospital stays are needed.

Wee Breathers™ is a very flexible and interactive program designed for asthma educators to reach families of pre-school-age children with asthma in their homes or in child care settings. The program consists of 7 one-hour lessons, two checklists for identifying asthma triggers in the home & in child care centers, and an instructor guide.