{"id":233689,"date":"2025-09-17T11:25:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233689\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T11:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:25:32","slug":"new-report-ranks-philadelphia-allentown-among-toughest-cities-for-people-with-asthma-metro-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233689\/","title":{"rendered":"New report ranks Philadelphia, Allentown among toughest cities for people with asthma \u2013 Metro Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philadelphia<\/a>\u00a0has once again been named one of the \u201casthma capitals\u201d of the U.S. \u2013 ranking No. 4 in a report released on Sept. 9, 2025, by the\u00a0Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America<\/a>. Allentown was ranked No. 3, Harrisburg No. 15 and Pittsburgh No. 44.<\/p>\n

The AAFA, which is the largest patient group in the country for people with asthma and allergies, ranks cities based on \u201chow challenging they are to live in<\/a>\u201d for people with asthma. The ranking combines data on asthma prevalence rates, visits to the ER and deaths related to asthma.<\/p>\n

Compared with 2024 data,\u00a0Allentown\u2019s ranking<\/a>\u00a0has improved: It went from No. 1, a position now occupied by Detroit, to No. 3.\u00a0Philadelphia is doing worse<\/a>, one place higher than in 2024.<\/p>\n

I am a\u00a0health law professor<\/a>\u00a0and the director of the\u00a0Health Innovation Lab<\/a>\u00a0at Villanova University, where\u00a0I have researched<\/a>\u00a0ways to\u00a0make asthma medication more affordable<\/a>\u00a0for patients.<\/p>\n

Here are some steps that individuals, schools and state leaders in Pennsylvania can take to reduce asthma triggers and the cost of asthma medications in their families and communities.\n<\/p>\n

Asthma peaks in Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

The ranking was published at an especially challenging time of the year for many asthma patients.\n<\/p>\n

September is known as the \u201casthma peak month<\/a>.\u201d The third week of September typically registers the highest number of asthma attacks, as well as asthma-related hospital and ER visits, nationwide.<\/p>\n

Asthma triggers<\/a>\u00a0include\u00a0fall pollen<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mold levels<\/a>, which start\u00a0increasing<\/a>\u00a0in the late summer and stay high through early fall.<\/p>\n

Also contributing to the September asthma peak is\u00a0poor indoor air quality<\/a>, especially in\u00a0older or poorly maintained school buildings<\/a>\u00a0where children are\u00a0exposed to concentrated amounts<\/a>\u00a0of allergens and irritants.<\/p>\n

A report released in August 2025 found that Pennsylvania schools\u00a0face a variety of asthma triggers<\/a>, such as exposure to radon, mold and lead paint. Yet,\u00a0less than 4% of schools in Pennsylvania<\/a>\u00a0have an indoor air quality plan. The problem is\u00a0especially acute in cities like Philadelphia<\/a>, where many school buildings are\u00a0over 70 years old and in disrepair.<\/a><\/p>\n

Solving a problem as complex and widespread as asthma may require taking creative steps. These include initiatives led by schools and students. For example, students in Australia led a successful initiative to improve air quality around their schools by having\u00a0parents cut down on engine idling time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Affordable asthma medications<\/p>\n

Asthma patients often need medication to manage their symptoms. Yet, over the past 15 years that medication has become\u00a0increasingly unaffordable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year, some pharmaceutical companies\u00a0capped the price<\/a> of their asthma inhalers at $35 each.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0not all types of inhalers are covered<\/a>. And\u00a0other asthma medications<\/a>, such as some drugs taken orally, remain\u00a0unaffordable for many patients<\/a>. Asthma drugs that are not subject to a price cap or other type of price control may cost patients\u00a0thousands of dollars a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are resources for asthma patients and parents of children with asthma that may help them save some money when filling their prescriptions. A good starting point is\u00a0GoodRx<\/a>, a free online platform that allows users to search and compare medication prices across pharmacies. The website currently lists\u00a065 different types of asthma medication<\/a>\u00a0and their varying prices.<\/p>\n

What Pennsylvania lawmakers can do<\/p>\n

Since price caps don\u2019t apply to all types of inhalers and asthma medication, states can pass legislation that imposes such caps, instead of relying solely on industry compliance. Before there was a\u00a0federal Medicare price cap<\/a>\u00a0on insulin, several states\u00a0took this route<\/a>\u00a0and implemented state caps.<\/p>\n

Some states have now begun passing similar legislation for certain types of asthma medication. Minnesota, for instance, beginning Jan. 1, 2025,\u00a0capped inhalers at $25<\/a>, lower than the industry cap. Pennsylvania could follow suit and even consider asthma medication besides inhalers.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania can also address other facets of the asthma crisis. For instance, the state could offer funding or other incentives for schools to upgrade their ventilation systems or otherwise address poor indoor air quality.<\/p>\n

Ana Santos Rutschman <\/a>is a Professor of Law at Villanova University.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Philadelphia\u00a0has once again been named one of the \u201casthma capitals\u201d of the U.S. \u2013 ranking No. 4 in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":233690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-233689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-pa","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115219393660962198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}