What are the Costs Associated with Celiac Disease?

Affected individuals whose celiac disease remains undiagnosed suffer.

The costs associated with this suffering are high.

The National Institute of Health has estimated that digestive diseases in the United States cost $141,826,300,000.¹ Early diagnosis of celiac disease could reduce this burden.

The Center for Disease Control has reported that “delay in diagnosis is noteworthy because some persons are likely to die from other causes before celiac disease is recognized.”²

Medical charges per managed care member per year for those eventually diagnosed with celiac disease were determined to be $8,502 in the year prior to diagnosis, $12,024 in the year following diagnosis, and lower thereafter.³

The overall cost to society for every year that a celiac remains undiagnosed has been estimated at about $14,000 per celiac per year.

1. Reference: Ruhl, C.E., Sayer, B., Byrd-Holt, D.D. & Brown, D. M.  Costs of Digestive Diseases. In: Everhart JE, editor. The burden of digestive diseases in the United States. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.  (2008). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office NIH Publication No. 09-6443 [Chapter 25 Table 1].
2. Frenzen, P.D. Deaths due to Unknown Foodborne Agents. (2004). Emerging Infectious Diseases 10(9): 1536-1543.
3. Reference: Green, P.H.R., Neugut, A.I., Naiver, A.J., Edwards, Z.C., Chinburapa, V. & Gabinelle, S. Economic Benefits of Increased Diagnosis of Celiac Disease in a National Managed Care Population in the United States. (2008). J Insur Med 40:218-228 [Table 5].