Respiratory Program — Breathe Easy

Breathe Easy

First ChoiceSM by Select Health of South Carolina members with asthma or other respiratory conditions can join a special program to help them manage their condition.

Call 1-888-276-2020 (TTY 1-888-765-9586), and select the options for Rapid Response/Care Management, or visit the member portal today to join the Breathe Easy asthma program.

What can the Breathe Easy program do for me?

For members with asthma, the Breathe Easy program can help you:

  • Understand what triggers your asthma.
  • Make an asthma action plan.
  • Understand your daily and rescue medications.
  • Learn the early warning signs of an asthma attack.

What is asthma?1

Asthma is a long-term illness that makes the airways to your lungs narrow, swollen, or blocked. It is important to do everything you can to keep your asthma under control.

Uncontrolled asthma:

  • Makes it hard for you to breathe
  • Keeps you from playing sports or doing physical activities
  • Can cause you to miss work or school

You can control asthma if you:

  • Know your triggers and how to avoid them.
  • Take your daily medicine as directed by your provider.
  • Use your rescue inhaler as directed by your provider.

For members with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the Breathe Easy program can help you:

  • Understand what COPD is.
  • Make a self-management plan.
  • Understand and manage your daily medications.
  • Learn the early warning signs of a COPD flare-up.

What is COPD?2

COPD is a lung disease that damages one or both of your lungs. When you have COPD, the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs are partly closed. This makes it hard to breathe.

COPD develops slowly, so it may take years before you see any of these symptoms:

  • Shortness of breath, especially with physical activity
  • Continuous cough, especially if there is a lot of mucus or phlegm
  • Chest tightness
  • Wheezing (a whistling or squeaky sound when you breathe)

Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD. If you would like to quit smoking, please call the South Carolina Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669). Talk to your provider about medicines that can help you quit.

Join the Breathe Easy program today

To join the Breathe Easy program, please call 1-888-276-2020 (TTY 1-888-765-9586), and select the options for Rapid Response/Care Management.

Or, you can log in to the member portal and go to Enroll in a Special Program.

Questions?

If you were a part of but no longer want to be in the Breathe Easy program, call 1-888-276-2020 (TTY 1-888-765-9586), and select the options for Rapid Response/Care Management. Leaving the program will not change your benefits. It will also not change the way First Choice or Healthy Connections treats you.   

1. “Asthma,” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, December 3, 2020, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/asthma.

2. “COPD,” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/copd

Members