Throughout 2018, the publications of the AJRCCM and associated ATS journals have continued to focus on the individual and societal impact of asthma and the challenges involved in managing this prevalent, but heterogeneous, condition. Asthma remains the most common chronic respiratory condition with ongoing significant unmet need at all levels of severity. The cardinal features of asthma, i.e. that it affects a significant proportion of all age‐groups, but generates highly individual effects on health and socioeconomic factors, have hampered previous attempts to gauge its true cost at a population level. Nurmagambetov et al. approached this task by utilising data from the 2008‐2013 household component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, examining a total sample size of more than 200,000 persons (more than 10,000 of whom had ‘treated asthma’)[1]. Application of a two‐part regression model indicated the cost of asthma in the USA in 2013 to be $81.9 billion, underlining the huge potential for improvements in asthma care to benefit individuals and populations in multiple aspects, including financially.