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WILKES-BARRE — On the heels of a report showing a continuing rise of diabetes statewide — though the Luzerne County rate remained unusually unchanged — Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield announced it will cover diabetes prevention programs, including one available at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA.

The announcement came, coincidentally, as the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council released a research brief showing hospital admissions for diabetes climbed 13 percent statewide from 2000 to 2016. Luzerne County had the distinction of being the only county in the state where the rate of diabetes admissions remained unchanged in that stretch.

The brief noted Pennsylvania’s diabetes admission rate of 18.7 people per 10,000 residents was higher than the national rate of 17.4 per 10,000. And it cited research by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality — a federal agency set up to improve the quality of health care — that estimated 86 percent of diabetes hospital admissions for patients 18 and older are “considered potentially preventable.”

The AHRQ website notes YMCAs nationwide have launched diabetes prevention programs in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The programs primarily focus on lifestyle changes designed to shed 5 percent to 7 percent of body weight and increase physical activity to at least 150 minutes per week.

The Wilkes-Barre YMCA program includes 25 sessions over 12 months facilitated by a lifestyle coach and working in support groups of eight to 15 people. Information is available at the YMCA website, wbymca.org.

Highmark will cover such programs at YMCAs providing it to those at risk of type 2 diabetes — caused by the body failing to produce or properly use insulin to process sugar. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form. For those with Highmark group health insurance who do not have access to a YMCA prevention program, the company also offers an online program through Retrofit, a provider of weight management and disease prevention initiatives.

The new benefit will be available beginning Jan. 1 to “both fully insured and self-funded commercial groups that follow Highmark’s standard Preventive Schedule,” according to a press release. More information is available at www.highmark.com.

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By Mark Guydish

[email protected]

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish