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Family Services Association holds 10th National Family Week Conference

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<p>A new report found Luzerne and most neighboring counties have lower-than-average rates of substance abuse by those 65 and older. The report looked at data for three years, from 2016 through 2018, focusing on hospital admissions and emergency room visits by those 65 and older enrolled in Medicare Fee-For-Service.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council released an eight-page financial brief that, overall, showed alcohol is by far the leading cause of substance related cases for the elderly on Medicare. Of 7,833 cases, 4,816 &#8212; 61% &#8212; involved alcohol, while 1,735 cases &#8212; 22 percent &#8212; were opioid related.</p><p>The report doesn&#8217;t break down alcohol versus opioid numbers at the county level, but does give the rate per 1,000 for most counties. As is typically the case with all council reports, no data is given for counties with particularly low numbers. In the case of Luzerne and its seven adjacent counties, data was available for all of them.</p><p>The state rate of admissions or ER visits for overdose or substance abuse disorder was 6.1 per 1,000. In Luzerne County, the rate was 5.2. Locally, only Sullivan County was above the state rate at 10.2 per 1,000. The lowest rate in this are was Schuylkill County at 1.8 per 1,000</p><p>Rates for other neighboring counties: Wyoming, 4.1 per 1,000; Lackawanna, 5 per 1,000; Monroe, 5.7 per 1,000; Carbon, 4.8 per 1,000; and Columbia 4.9 per 1,000.</p><p>Philadelphia County had the highest rate in the state at 17.3 per 1,000, while Franklin County edged out Schuylkill for the lowest rate at 1.6 per 1,000.</p><p>Other statewide highlights in the report:</p><p>&#8226; Of the 7,833 cases, 21 percent were overdoses and 79% were substance dependence or abuse.</p><p>&#8226; Over the three years reviewed there was an average of seven hospital admissions or emergency department visits per day for substance use, with an average cost of $24,438 per day.</p><p>&#8226; Hospital admissions created the bulk of costs, 91%, totaling $24.5 million out of $26.8 million period.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Report: Substance abuse among elders lower locally than state rate