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In addition to sponsoring the individuals that participate in the training, UniCare takes it a step further by offering medical clinics and primary care associations the opportunity to be compensated for the actual workshops conducted. It is UniCare's policy to pay these organizations for education classes given to UniCare members.

"It's a win-win situation for everyone involved," said Collins.

A quick look at asthma statistics in West Virginia shows the great need for such an effort :

-- Approximately 8.5 percent of West Virginians currently have asthma.

This equals approximately 123,000 adults and 31,000 children. (WVDHHR,

The Burden of Asthma in West Virginia, 2007)

-- West Virginia children had the fourth highest prevalence of asthma in

the nation in 2003. (ALA, Asthma in Children Fact Sheet, August 2006)

-- West Virginia adults aged 65 and older had the third highest rate of

asthma in the nation in 2006. (West Virginia Health Care Authority,

UB-92 data)

-- 19.4 percent of adults with asthma visited an emergency room or urgent

care center because of their asthma in the past year. (Behavioral Risk

Factor Surveillance System)

"This is the first time the Breathe Well, Live Well training is being offered in West Virginia," said Jessica Isner, lung health program specialist for ALAWV. "To have UniCare, the largest Medicaid Managed Care Plan in the state, participate has been great when it comes to extending the program's reach as far as possible."

The organizations UniCare will sponsor for the training are:

-- Braxton County Health Department; Sutton, WV

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