Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
Advancing Health Equity in Asthma Control through EXHALE Strategies - New York (NY) is the nation’s fourth most populous state with over 20.2 million residents distributed across large urban, suburban, and rural areas. NY’s population is diverse: 20% of the population is Black non-Hispanic, 20% is Hispanic, and people in more than 30% of households speak a language at home other than English. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important determinant of health: 13.1% of adults and 18.8% of children live at or below the Federal Poverty Level, 52.2% of school children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, and over 2.5 million children (aged 0-20 years) and 5.2 million adults (aged 21+ years) are enrolled in NY Medicaid. Asthma in NY remains prevalent (adults 10%, children 7%) and costly ($370 million in medical costs for the Medicaid population annually). It is estimated that 1 in 12 children currently have asthma in NY. Additionally, there are 1.5 million adult New Yorkers with asthma. Stark inequities remain, with asthma emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic persons, younger age groups, and populations with lower SES. Under this Notice of Funding Opportunity, the NYSACP will continue to build its strong organizational infrastructure dedicated to advancing health equity and disseminating CDC’s EXHALE strategies to expand the quality and availability of comprehensive asthma control services delivered in accordance with the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Asthma Guidelines. EXHALE strategies will be implemented under the NYS Children’s Asthma Initiative (NYSCAI), a NYS-funded five-year contract (2023–2028) with the American Lung Association (ALA), across three interventions: Project BREATHE NY Health Systems Quality Improvement, Expanding Home-Based Asthma Services in NYS, and NYS Asthma Management in Schools. The focus population for interventions include children with asthma ages 0-21 enrolled in NY Medicaid and their families/caregivers in communities with a high percentage of Black and Hispanic children living in low- income households. EXHALE interventions will be coordinated across health care, school, home, and community settings in NY’s high asthma burden priority service areas with the goal of reducing asthma- related ED visits, hospitalizations, mortality, and health disparities. The NYS Strategic Action Plan for Asthma Control will provide a roadmap of activities and monitor progress toward the advancement of NYSACP priorities. To ensure community engagement and advancement of health equity goals, the NYSACP will maintain the Asthma Partnership of NY (APNY) under the NYS Children’s Asthma Initiative. APNY is comprised of internal and external multi-sector partners and stakeholders dedicated to reducing the burden of asthma in NY including DOH leaders, clinical advisors, government partners, schools, early childcare and school-based health centers, health care organizations, NY Medicaid managed care organizations, and community-based organizations. APNY will engage strategic partners in communities where children experience disproportionate rates of asthma ED visits and hospitalizations, disparities in economic stability, educational and healthcare access and quality, neighborhood safety and built environments, and increased vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The NYSACP’s leadership and program management infrastructure will leverage these and other partnerships and opportunities to prioritize quality asthma care under NY Medicaid’s transition to a sustainable value-based system of care. NY’s extensive asthma surveillance system will be used to focus interventions, allocate resources, and monitor impact. Program evaluation activities will be conducted with partners to understand the economic impacts, successes, and lessons-learned through expansion of EXHALE interventions and workforce development.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).