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California’s inability to meet air pollution standards has generated a lot of expensive hospital care, according to a study by the nonprofit research RAND Corporation. More people in California live where air quality fails to meet the federal clean air standards than in any other state.

From 2005 to 2007, California’s poor air quality resulted in more than 3 million worth of hospital care. Rand researchers think that excessive levels of ozone and particulate pollution caused nearly 30,000 emergency room visits and hospital admissions during those years.

Who Is Hardest Hit by Air Pollution

The Rand researchers looked at air pollution agencies and hospitals throughout California. Their goal was to estimate how excessive levels of particulate matter and ozone affected emergency room visits for asthma, and hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

They found that the most common hospital care triggered by air pollution involved emergency room visits for asthma affecting children. That accounted for more than 12,000 trips to emergency rooms during the three-year period. Nearly three-quarters of these trips were triggered by high levels of tiny pieces of soot that can penetrate deeply into the lungs.

How Much Does Air Pollution Cost Californians?

The cost of treating health problems caused by air pollution equals the expense of providing flu vaccines to 85 percent of the children in California under the age of 15. The most expensive situations were the hospital admissions for acute bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia triggered by air pollution. Such conditions accounted for nearly one-third of the 3 million worth of medical costs documented during the three-year study.

This is a conservative estimate of medical costs because it does not include outpatient care from clinics or medical offices. That data cannot be examined because such care is not routinely reported to state agencies.

What Diseases Are Aggravated by Air Pollution?

Asthma attacks can be triggered by air pollution, and asthma, itself, can be caused by pollution. A pollutant causes small airways to constrict, and that makes breathing harder even when you’re healthy. When someone is already prone to asthma, it can be life threatening. These attacks are one of the major causes of air pollution related deaths in Europe and North America. Unlike other chronic obstructive lung diseases though, asthma is reversible.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is actually a group of diseases that includes asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. COPD is also spreading as air pollution worsens.

Cystic fibrosis is also aggravated by air pollution. This disease affects mucous glands throughout the body, including in the lungs. Thick mucous develops in the lungs, and allows harmful bacteria to thrive. People with cystic fibrosis have more lung infections and breathing problems, and studies show that the respiratory complications are worse for patients near high air pollution.

Studies have also indicated that living with high air pollution increases your risk of complications and death from diabetes and heart disease. Researchers in California, Spain, and Switzerland have all found that auto exhaust contributes to the thickening of artery walls, which can increase risk of heart attack and stroke.

A study in the journal PLoS ONE measured the carotid artery wall thickness of 1,483 people who lived near freeways in the Los Angeles area for approximately three years. The artery wall thickness among people living within 100 meters (that’s 328 feet) of a highway increased by 5.5 micrometers per year. That was more than twice the average progression seen in other study participants.

Likewise, researchers at the University of Birmingham found a strong correlation between pneumonia and motor vehicle exhaust.

Health Insurance in California Protects against Medical Disparities

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found differences in the quality of care provided by Federally Qualified Health Centers, known as safety net providers, intended to improve care in underserved urban and rural communities. Studies indicate that quality of care depends on insurance status even in these centers. People with private insurance receive the best care, and people without insurance get the worst.

In the article Insurance Status and Quality of Diabetes Care in Community Health Centers, researchers found that uninsured patients were the least likely to receive diabetes quality of care measures. Quality of care for Medicaid patients was similar. Other studies have uncovered similar disparities in care quality when children were hospitalized for a variety of conditions, and when adults were hospitalized for trauma injuries.

Researchers have also uncovered a similar pattern in Differences in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: Experiences of Insured and Uninsured Women in a Safety-Net Setting. Insured women with breast cancer were diagnosed with smaller tumors and at earlier disease stages, and received surgery and chemotherapy considerably faster than women lacking insurance.

Preventive services, diagnostic evaluations, and therapeutic treatments all depend on whether you have health insurance. In California, air pollution makes that even more critical.

You have a better chance of controlling asthma if treatment is begun early, and treatment can reduce the number and severity of asthma attacks.

For COPD, lifestyle changes and medical treatment can help you feel better, stay active, and slow disease progression. Likewise, treatment for cystic fibrosis can also ease symptoms and reduce risk of complications.

Since California has the worst air pollution in the nation, health insurance in California is a much higher priority. Being such a large market, California also has a variety of insurers, and literally hundreds of plans at different prices to help.