Prevalence

Thousands of children go undiagnosed in Georgia each year

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 young children will receive a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the US, an increase of 120% from 2002. This increase in prevalence does not show any signs of slowing, and will put more financial pressure on local, state, and federal governments, as well as families.

How to use this tool:
Hover over the counties in Georgia to see the gap between the estimated prevalence and actual diagnosis covered by Medicaid.

Methodology and data

Medicaid data from 2009 was used to determine the number of diagnoses and the potential number of children undiagnosed by county. In 2014, an estimated 57% of children in Georgia were on Medicaid or CHiP.

To read more and to see a list of our references, click here.

Examining the Gap:

How many children potentially go undiagnosed in Georgia?

Georgia
Total Medicaid Children (2009): 643,051
ASD Estimated Prevalence
10,048
ASD Diagnosis
581

~9,400

kids potentially go undiagnosed

Number of children potentially undiagnosed
  • 0-5
  • 6-17
  • 18-55
  • 56-979
Data are provided according to the policies of the Data Use Agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Counties with fewer than 10 diagnoses do not have entries in our database to reduce the risk of potentially identifying specific patients. We have estimated those numbers as 10 in our calculations to provide a lower bound to the number of potentially undiagnosed children. All data are from 2009.
Counties with most Medicaid-reported ASD diagnoses by percentage (2009 data)
Counties Children* Diagnosed % Undiagnosed**
Clayton 28,272 14 96.8%
DeKalb 49,072 32 95.8%
Fulton 55,295 46 94.6%
Gwinnett 51,852 46 94.3%
Muscogee 14,851 14 94.0%
Bibb 13,849 16 92.6%
Cobb 33,387 46 91.2%
Chatham 16,603 33 87.3%
Cherokee 8,097 23 81.9%
Forsyth 4,418 15 78.3%
* - Number of children covered by Medicaid
** - Potentially undiagnosed is calculated from the estimated prevalence minus the actual diagnosed

See how Georgia compares to neighboring states by clicking here

Autism Underdiagnosis: A Cross-State Comparison

How to use this tool:
Hover over the states to see how Georgia's undiagnosed rate compares to the other 9 states in the Southeast. States are ranked from smallest (1) to the largest gap in undiagnosed children (9).

x
Autism in the Southeast*

 
Georgia
ASD Estimated Prevalence
10,048
ASD Diagnosis
581
ASD Estimated Undiagnosed
~9,400
ASD Percentage Undiagnosed
94.2%
State Rank
3

*Data are provided according to the policies of the Data Use Agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Counties with fewer than 10 diagnoses do not have entries in our database to reduce the risk of potentially identifying specific patients. We have estimated those numbers as 10 in our calculations to provide a lower bound to the number of potentially undiagnosed children. All data are from 2009.

Sam's Family

I have to say it is so hard navigating the system—we were constantly waiting and it was difficult to find the services we needed.

Read More
Highlights
  • Under-diagnosis is a problem in all 156 counties in GA.
  • An estimated 9,400 children potentially go undiagnosed in Georgia.

Cost

Early autism treatment could save about $1.2 million over a lifetime

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be an expensive condition. Healthcare costs alone can be 3 to 10 times greater for a child with ASD compared to a neurotypical child (Bultas, 2012). The literature shows intervening early can reduce lifetime costs. All costs were discounted at 3% to give a clear representation of the present value of all costs. This is based on the idea having your money today is worth more to you than having it in a year, thus with a 3% discount rate $100 today would be worth $97 to you in a year.

How to use this tool:
The interactive tools below allows you to compare costs across age groups by selecting “Cumulative”, as well as different costs at the same age by selecting “Categorical”. To selectively compare costs, the legend on the left side of the graph allow you to select or deselect the cost variables in view. To see further details on each of the cost categories click on a specific section of a cost bar to get a breakdown in the chart to the right.

Methodology and literature

Over 50 articles meeting medium to high quality standards were reviewed and synthesized to calculate the lifetime costs by age of initial treatment. Our methodology extends and is consistent with recent work appearing in JAMA Pediatrics.

To read more and to see a list of our references, click here.

Cost Categories
  • Potential Savings
  • Indirect Cost
  • Non Medical Service Cost
  • Medical Cost

Lifetime Costs of Autism Spectrum Disorder by Age of Intervention (2014$)

Cost Breakdown

Ben's Family

We don't want to burden the tax payers with huge costs, but we can't bear the full cost of autism so it will have to be the public’s responsibility eventually.

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Highlights
  • Late treatment is associated with lifetime costs that can be 40% higher than when intervention starts at age 2.
  • Savings on services related to independence account fo 29% of savings for an adult living with autism.

Treatment

Early treatment can help 43% of children be successfully included in regular education

The literature shows that, typically, the younger a child with austism spectrum disorder (ASD) is when s/he receives treatment, the better the outcomes they experience over a lifetime. These include improved adaptive functioning, decreased autism symptoms, increased intellectual functioning and developmental growth, as well as an increase in quality of life. Here we look at educational placement as a tangible indicator of a child's improvement after treatment.

Methodology and literature

Articles examining the outcome of children receiving treatment at varying ages were collected and aggregated to create the infographic below. To read more about our methodology, click here.
Check out this interactive tool for more details on outcomes.

Expected Education Outcomes after Treatment, by Age

Why early treatment?

This infographic shows three possible outcomes of 100 children receiving autism treatment from ages 2-6. The three outcomes are: included in regular education, needs support in the classroom, and special education with maximum support. As the infographic demonstrates, the literature shows that children who receive early treatment are more likely to be included in regular education; this also means that these children are more likely to live more independent lives.

Anne's Family

These therapies will allow her to participate in things that, otherwise, she would not have been able to.

Read More
Highlights
  • 86% of children have better educational outcomes with early treatment.
  • Early treatment can help children be included in regular education.