Medical Benefits For Celiac Disease

As much as we like to complain about Celiac Disease and the many difficulties that come with this, it may be time to look to the positives.  There are some medical benefits and tax deductions you can get with Celiac disease.  I will talk about some of them below.

1. Tax Deductions

You can deduct the following: the difference in price between food where gluten free food costs more than regular food; the cost of transportation for a special trip to a store to get gluten free food; the full cost of special food needed for a gluten free diet, for example xantham gum which is used in gluten free baking; the cost of postage for ordering gluten free food by mail.

For more information on tax deductions, visit: https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/resources/government-benefits/tax-deductions-for-celiac-disease/ 

2. Unemployment Benefits

You have to have missed a year of work from debilitating symptoms and have your doctor submit documentation. This is is more for someone who was suffering from Celiac Disease and was undiagnosed prior to starting the diet and knowing about it. You have to have been pretty sick.

For more information on this, visit: https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/resources/government-benefits/government-filings/ 

3. Restaurant Cards 

The following website: http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/ gives select free Celiac restaurant cards in 54 languages but asks for a donation if possible.  This helps with gluten free travel and dining out.

english-card

4. Medical Marijuana Cards 

Depending on the state, you can likely get a medical marijuana card to help with Celiac Disease symptoms.
These are just some of the benefits I found while researching. While a restaurant card is not actually a medical benefit, it is certainly beneficial while dining out anywhere or traveling, and I think I will try out using it.

Photos: 1, 2

Chloe Dyer

About Chloe Dyer

Chloe graduated from UMaine Orono with a BA in Mass Communication and a minor in Political Science. In addition to writing for the BDN, she has been Editor in Chief of Her Campus UMaine, Contributing Editor of Odyssey UMaine, and a Staff Writer for The Maine Campus . She has known about her Celiac Disease for about two years and has been eating gluten free as well as sometimes dairy free. She is from Chebeague Island, Maine, where she grew up, but has also lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria in addition to Orono.