It Will Increasingly Pay to Avoid Allergens
Know anyone with allergies? Then you know someone surrounded by three bullies.
More allergens, partly from climate change
A study over time of 14 million blood samples from allergy sufferers tells us that allergies are more prevalent. Why? The Week summarizes,
"As the planet gets hotter, ragweed and mold are better able to thrive, and that leads to an increase in allergies, says the Quest report. Already, earlier studies had found that the growth of fungal spores increased with rises in carbon dioxide, and that the ragweed pollen season has gotten nearly a month longer since 1995."
Less insurance
Medicare and Medicaid are prime targets for budget-cutting in Washington. This is particularly bad news for the elderly and the urban poor who suffer more than others from allergies.
Big healthcare costs
Allergy medication is expensive! I'm symptom-free with two puffs a day, but those puffs costs me $1,000 a year - and that's with health and drug insurance! Think of the lifetime costs for a person who suffers from childhood through old age. On top of that, as a major cause of absenteeism, allergies depress incomes.
Allergy sufferers can't escape these thugs, but there are at least two things they can do to reduce the pain.
Live in a low allergy area
Some US cities are notorious for allergens. Here are the worst 100 for spring allergies, as determined by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The map above shows their distribution.
Live in a low health-cost area
As I've discussed before in Savvy Families, what you pay hospitals and doctors varies widely across the country (often inversely with quality of care). If you are thinking about where to live to protect the family health budget, it pays to check these costs in the Dartmouth Health Care Atlas.
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