Digestive disorders: A growing workforce challenge
Digestive disorders affect 60M+ Americans, costing employers billions. Discover 4 strategies that may help protect workforce health and bottom lines.
Digestive disorders are accelerating across the U.S. — driving up care costs, straining productivity and quietly undermining workforce health. With 60–70M Americans affected each year 1 and $142B in total annual health care expenditures generated by GI diseases,2 this is becoming a growing benefits challenge.
Digestive disorders include a range of conditions that affect the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which includes the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas and gallbladder. The diversity of conditions mirrors the diversity of symptoms an individual can have, which is why diagnostic journeys are often long and complex, contributing to the 35.4M office visits each year that can be attributed back to digestive disorders.1
Considering this, it’s no surprise that employers are seeing their costs creep up. In fact, average per member, per month care costs rose 10.5% between 2024 and 2025, according to the UnitedHealthcare 2026 Health Trends Report. That’s a 37% increase from 2019,3 signaling that digestive disorders are no longer a challenge employers can afford to ignore.
What's driving the trend?
Several factors are converging to accelerate the prevalence and cost of digestive conditions.
The rapid rise of GLP-1 medications has introduced a significant new variable: 86% of GLP-1 users have experienced GI side effects,4 making digestive health management an increasingly pressing consideration for any plan covering these therapies. At the same time, the American Gastroenterological Association has documented a post-pandemic surge in gut-brain interaction disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia — conditions heavily influenced by stress and mental health.5 Additionally, the prevalence of allergies or avoidance related to gluten6 and dairy7 appear to be rising, pushing up care costs.
The cancer picture is equally urgent. Colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer for Americans under the age of 508 — a shift that challenges the long-held assumption that GI cancers are primarily a concern for older populations. Delayed preventive screenings during the pandemic, combined with lifestyle factors and rising obesity rates, are compounding the risk.
The gut-brain connection also means that untreated mental health issues can worsen digestive symptoms, and unmanaged digestive conditions can deepen psychological distress.9 Employers who address only one side of this equation may find only limited success.
4 strategies employers should act on now
Employers that take a whole-person approach to their benefits design may help better address the multiple factors that stem from digestive disorders — while also helping to control health care costs.
1. Understand the employee population. Claims data can reveal the true impact digestive disorders are having on a workforce, including common coexisting conditions and social drivers of health (SDOH) challenges. These insights can sharpen benefits design and identify opportunities to tailor communication strategies to the employees who need support most.
2. Promote preventive screenings and early detection. Preventive screenings play a critical role in catching digestive conditions — including colorectal cancer — before they require more costly treatments. Employers can drive meaningful participation through preventive care education, low-barrier benefits design such as copay-only Surest®, and by championing at-home detection kits as an accessible option for employees who might otherwise defer care or routine screenings.
3. Offer access to behavioral health support. Given the established link between gut health and mental health, access to behavioral health resources is a direct lever for improving digestive outcomes. Employers should ensure employees can readily access counseling and digital tools that offer on-demand assistance. For instance, apps like Calm Health can give employees 24/7 support when flare-ups disrupt daily life.3
4. Provide resources to help employees manage their condition. Through UHC Hub®, employers can offer their employees access to resources designed to help employees manage digestive disorders — which may help avoid administrative complexity due to the streamlined contracting and purchasing process available via UHC Hub. With UHC Store — a member-exclusive digital shop via the UnitedHealthcare® app and myuhc.com® — individuals can purchase additional resources of their choice like Cylinder Health or Ayble Health, both designed to help improve gut health.
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