We Need Your Support!
We
are reaching out to you with an urgent request for action. With your
help and support this year, AAFA-STL was able to achieve critical
funding for asthma education and assessments.
However, due to budget concerns, Governor Nixon is withholding the
money, preventing children with asthma from receiving the care they need
and stalling the release of critical information that would help
parents manage their child's condition. When the governor decides to release funds, his first questions is “have we gotten any calls about this issue/bill?”
This is where you come in. As one of our supporters,
we are asking for 3 minutes of your time to place one phone call into
Governor Jay Nixon's office, urging him to release the funding. We know
you are extremely busy, so we want to make this call as easy as possible
for you.
Contact Info: Governor's office phone # is
573-751-3222. If you are also interested in reaching out to John
Watson, Chief of Staff or Jeff Harris, Director of Public Policy, you
can reach them at the same number, 573-751-3222
Talking Points:
· I’d like to leave a message for Governor Nixon to urge him to
release the asthma funding including in HB 2011 line item 5.28.
· This $527,000 in the overall $28 Billion dollar budget is
critical for children who are suffering from asthma, not to mention the
amount of money saved by releasing this money is well worth the added
cost in the budget
· I understand the budget is tight, but releasing this money
will save money for the state by relieving stress on our hospitals and
emergency rooms.
· Recently, the respiratory non-polio enterovirus D68 has had an
alarming effect on children suffering from asthma, increasing emergency
room and hospitalization visits. Without proper education to care for
asthma, it is natural to turn to the emergency rooms, which is costly
and is not good for the child’s quality of life.
· Please release the asthma funding included in HB 2011 line item 5.28.
· Thank you for listening to my concern and for passing my message along to the Governor.
It's that easy! Will you give us a few minutes of your time and let us know after you've contacted the Governor's office?
Additional Context and Background Talking Points:
· Just last week, Governor Nixon withheld (a previously vetoed)
budget item that would save thousands and perhaps millions of Medicaid
dollars for the State of Missouri (estimates indicate $300,000 -
$500,000 per 100 children per year savings for Medicaid and $500,000 -
$1 million per 100 children per year savings for commercial insurance).
· This budgetary line item would implement asthma care
management changes (supported by the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid) which include asthma education and healthy home assessments
for many diagnosed children with asthma across our state.
· How would this save money in the long run? More and more
studies from around the country demonstrate reduced emergency room and
hospital visits when a healthy home assessment is done to identify the
asthma triggers.
· Additionally, providing asthma education outside the emergency
room leads to better retention (for example, many families have no idea
that their home is making their child sick). Improving the quality of
life for those who are costing the state thousands of dollars should be
Missouri’s goal. Funding these services will not only improve school
attendance and reduce time spent in the emergency room, but also improve
healthcare costs for Missouri.
Thank you in advance for your help and continued support of our agency's important initiatives.
-Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, St. Louis Chapter
