Family Asthma Act Reintroduced in Congress

Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act would improve the nation’s public health response to asthma.

October 10, 2023

Allergy & Asthma Network supports a bill reintroduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that would expand asthma care nationwide. We urge you to support this important bill as well.

Bipartisan legislators reintroduced the Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act (H.R. 5749) in the House on Sept. 29. The bill would strengthen the nation’s public health response to asthma. It would also provide relief to the 25+ million Americans living with the disease.

The Family Asthma Act would:

• expand the CDC’s National Asthma Control Program to all 50 states;
• direct the CDC to work with state and local health departments to provide information on asthma;
• require states to develop plans around public health responses to asthma, especially for underserved, at-risk communities;
• mandate the collection and coordination of data on asthma.

The bill was brought to the House floor by U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), David Valadao (R-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (R-DE). Dingell and Valadao serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Asthma & Allergy Caucus.

Elijah E. Cummings represented Baltimore as a member of Congress for 23 years before he passed away in 2019. Cummings was a longtime advocate for people living with asthma.

“More than 25 million Americans – including 6 million children – live with asthma and 11 people die every day from the chronic disease,” says Lynda Mitchell, CEO of Allergy & Asthma Network. “Many people need support in managing their asthma and preventing symptoms. It is especially important for those living in under-resourced communities. Federal, state and local asthma programs and health departments play an integral role in developing strategies to reduce asthma triggers in communities.

“We urge support for the Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act to expand asthma education and awareness nationwide through the CDC’s National Asthma Control Program. It takes all of us working together to ensure no more lives are lost to asthma.

“And we can’t think of a more fitting tribute to the late Congressman Cummings than to see this important legislation become law.”

Allergy & Asthma Network joins the American Lung Association, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and other patient advocacy groups in urging support of the Family Asthma Act.