Endometriosis

Health system expenditure

The Australian Disease Expenditure Study showed that in 2020–21, an estimated $247.2 million was spent on endometriosis in the Australian health system (AIHW 2023b). This represents less than 1% of spending attributable to specific disease groups.

This expenditure consisted of:

• $212.4 million for hospitals (including public hospital admitted patient, outpatient and emergency department services and private hospital services)
• $21.1 million for referred medical services (including pathology, medical imaging and specialist services)
• $13.6 million for primary health care (including General Practitioner services and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme expenditure).

Around 83% of total expenditure on endometriosis was attributed to females of reproductive age (aged 15–44 years). Females aged 35–39 years had the highest expenditure amongst all age groups, accounting for around 20% of total endometriosis expenditure. 

These estimates include payments from all sources of funds, such as the Australian and State and Territory Governments, Private Health Insurance, and out of pocket payments by patients, where spending can be attributed to the treatment of endometriosis. It is likely to underestimate spending where data are lacking on endometriosis-related services, such as primary care services and medicines. 

Cost of endometriosis  

The cost of disease is not just financial: being unwell has other effects on quality of life, affecting people’s ability to work or do the activities they enjoy. The spending estimates do not include direct costs from outside of the health care sector or estimates of the indirect costs due to illness. The total economic burden of endometriosis has been estimated at between $7.4 billion and $9.7 billion per year (Armour et al. 2019; Ernst & Young 2019)

One Australian study estimated the cost of endometriosis was $30,900 per person with the condition in 2017 (Armour et al. 2019). This consisted of:

• $25,800 for productivity costs
• $3,900 for total health costs
• $1,100 for carer costs.

Lost productivity due to endometriosis accounted for 84% of these costs. Costs increased with pain severity, with costs for people reporting severe pain 6 times as high as those reporting minimal pain.