Human Services News

From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News:

Treating alcohol addiction and related disorders cost community hospitals about $2 billion last year, according to a report from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Medical News Today reported May 3 that the study found that U.S. community hospitals treated roughly 210,000 people for alcohol dependence, of whom 25 percent were Medicaid patients, 21 percent were uninsured, 13 percent were Medicare patients, and 34 percent had private insurance.

Alcohol-related problems were the fourth-leading reason for hospitalization of uninsured patients.

Of those admitted for alcohol problems, 65 percent had a co-occurring disorder involving illicit drugs, 34.4 percent had a co-occurring mood disorder, 11.5 percent had alcohol-related liver diseases, and 8.7 percent had an anxiety disorder.

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