U.S. Reps. David Valadao (R-CA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) recently signed on as original cosponsors of bipartisan legislation that aims to bolster research around asthma and improve care for Americans suffering with this chronic lung disease.
“As the co-chair of the Congressional Asthma and Allergy Caucus, I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce this important legislation,” Rep. Valadao said.
“Asthma is a widespread and costly disease that impacts over 25 million adults and children in the United States,” Rep. Fitzpatrick said. “It is past time for Congress to address asthma’s public health burden.”
The congressmen on Sept. 27 introduced the Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act, H.R. 5749, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). The bill’s text states that “the alarming rise in the prevalence of asthma, its adverse effect on school attendance and productivity, and its cost for hospitalizations and emergency room visits, highlight the importance of public health interventions.”
Such interventions, the bill says, should include increasing awareness of asthma as a chronic illness, its symptoms, the role of both indoor and outdoor environmental factors that exacerbate the disease, and other factors that affect its exacerbations and severity.
“The goals of the federal government and its partners in the nonprofit and private sectors should include reducing the number and severity of asthma attacks, asthma’s financial burden, and the health disparities associated with asthma,” according to the bill’s text.
“The San Joaquin Valley suffers from some of the worst air quality in the nation, and as a result we have one of the highest rates of child asthma,” said Rep. Valadao, the lead original cosponsor of H.R. 5749. “The Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act is a critical step toward expanding access to care and improving the quality of life for people with asthma.”
“This bipartisan legislation will help strengthen the public health response to asthma and improve care for individuals living with this debilitating disease,” added Rep. Fitzpatrick.
If enacted, H.R. 5749 would expand the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Asthma Control Program to all 50 states, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
Additionally, H.R. 5749 would direct the CDC to collaborate with state and local health departments to provide information and education to the public regarding asthma, and require states to develop plans around public health responses to asthma, particularly for disproportionately affected populations.
Among other provisions, the measure also would mandate the collection and coordination of data on the impact of asthma, the summary says.
The American Lung Association, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and the Allergy & Asthma Network endorsed the bill.