BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:   May 14, 2015


                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES


                                Richard Gordon, Chair


          ACR 64  
          (Santiago) - As Introduced May 5, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Asthma Awareness Month.


          SUMMARY:  Designates the month of May 2015 as Asthma Awareness  
          Month in order to increase awareness and understanding about  
          asthma and educate those with the disease on the treatments  
          available and the methods of preventing attacks.  Specifically,  
          this resolution makes the following legislative findings:


          1)Approximately five million Californians have been diagnosed  
            with asthma at some point in their lives, and almost three  
            million currently have asthma.


          2)Asthma is responsible for approximately 400 deaths, 35,000  
            hospital discharges, and 180,000 emergency department visits  
            annually in California.


          3)Lifetime and current asthma prevalence is highest among  
            children 5 to 17 years of age and about 30 percent higher than  
            among adults; and asthma prevalence is higher among African  
            Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Puerto Ricans,  
            European Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos.









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          4)Total charges for asthma hospitalizations in 2010 were over $1  
            billion, and intervention to prevent repeat hospitalizations  
            could have saved $156 million in these medical costs.


          5)It is important that every person with asthma be diagnosed,  
            receive appropriate treatment, learn how to manage his or her  
            asthma, and reduce exposure to environmental factors that make  
            his or her asthma worse.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  None


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          Asthma Coalition of Los Angeles County


          Breathe California of Los Angeles County




          Opposition


          None on file












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          Analysis Prepared by:Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800