The authorities will reassess gluten intolerance subsidy
The Norwegian authorities will review the financial support for people with celiac disease and reassess the subsidy for gluten-sensitive, which is currently at NOK 24,000 a year.
According to the national newspaper VG, there are 26,400 persons in Norway who receive support to cover the extra costs incurred by following a gluten-free diet. The number includes both people with the chronic intestinal celiacs disease and people with other forms of gluten intolerance.
Today, support for a gluten-free diet is at NOK 24,000 a year, while the real annual extra cost on average is NOK 7,860, according to a SIFO report commissioned by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. It is now 20 years since today’s rates were set.
According to the ministry, Nav currently pays out about NOK 630 million in benefits related to gluten intolerance.
– If you follow up the estimates in the report from SIFO about how much it actually costs to have a gluten-free diet and that you have to be able to document a medical disorder, it could save the state about half a billion annually, says Fredrik Tronhuus (Conservatives). Tronhuus is a political adviser in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
There are no simple, defined methods or tests to diagnose wheat and gluten sensitivity.
The Norwegian Celiac Disease Association believes that the authorities should not remove the gluten-sensitive subsidy from people without the disease, but that they can impose clearer criteria for legibility.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
