Community Asthma Initiative: Cost Analyses Using Claims Data from a Medicaid Managed Care Organization

Background Our objective was to examine the benefits from the Community Asthma Initiative (CAI) program using claims data from one Medicaid Managed Care Organization by comparing actual costs incurred for asthma treatment for CAI intervention patients with a cost-matched comparison group without CAI intervention from similar low-income neighborhoods. A number of randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the importance of culturally appropriate, individualized care coordination, asthma education and coaching for improvement in asthma outcomes through cost reduction, but the …