”
Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Queens Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas have introduced
and
, which would eliminate the cost of asthma inhalers, including copayment, coinsurance and deductibles related to them for New Yorkers with asthma. In recent months, some companies have committed to
the cost of asthma inhalers at $35, but residents who have asthma say even that can be too expensive. Other inhalers run price tags that charge over $600. According to the New York State Asthma Board, Bronx County
twice the rate of asthma emergency room visits, compared to the rest of the city on average between 2019 and 2021. Environmental justice advocates say this is in part because of a domino effect: when highways and industrial plants are
in Black and brown neighborhoods, they create pollution in those neighborhoods. That then makes the air quality bad to breathe, especially in times of extreme weather events like this year’s