OBJECTIVES: To assess health care resource utilization and related costs among managed care patients treated for chronic bronchitis (CB). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD) was conducted. The study population included CB patients aged ≥40 with ≥2 years continuous enrollment in the HIRD, ≥1 inpatient (INPT) admission/emergency department (ED) visit or ≥2 outpatient visits with CB (ICD-9-CM 491.xx) during the period from January 1, 2004 to May 31, 2011, and ≥2 pharmacy fills for COPD medications (the first fill served as the index date). CB patients were followed for 1 year to collect all-cause and COPD-related (ICD-9 codes: 491.xx, 492.xx, 496.xx) health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with gamma distribution and log link function were utilized to identify HCRU cost predictors. RESULTS: A total of 17,382 treated CB patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria (50.6% female, mean age 66.7±11.4 years).  During follow-up year, the mean number of COPD maintenance medication fills was 7.6±6.3; all-cause HCRU was: 39% had ≥ 1 INPT, 26.6% had ≥ 1 ED visits, and 98.4% had ≥ 1 office visits; and mean total all-cause HCRU cost was $25,747± $51,105.  COPD-related HCRU was: 32.6% had ≥ 1 INPT, 12.9% had ≥ 1 ED visits, and 81.8% had ≥1 office visits; mean total COPD-related HCRU cost was $12,609±$36,801.  GLM models showed that baseline incidence of COPD exacerbations was a significant predictor of both all-cause (β=0.0924, p<0.0001) and COPD-related (β=0.1862, p<0.0001) HCRU costs during follow-up. Other significant predictors of follow-up COPD-related costs included Deyo-Charlson Index (β=0.1370, p<0.0001), female gender (β= -0.1280, p<0.0001), and age (β=0.0084, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: HCRU and costs among CB patients treated with COPD maintenance medications were considerable during follow-up. New medications and disease management interventions aiming to reduce HCRU and costs among CB patients warrant exploration.