Happy Pride Month!

June is a time to uplift and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community across the country, especially as many continue to face discrimination and attacks from right-wing politicians. Unfortunately, in our current, profit-driven health care system, many LGBTQIA+ patients face disparities and barriers to care.

This community generally sees lower access to health care, as they face discrimination from providers and are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured. 17% of LGBTQIA+ adults don’t have health insurance, a rate exceeding that of the general population.

LGBTQIA+ patients are more likely to avoid or delay seeking medical care, which results in less preventative care and more emergency room visits. Part of this is due to health care providers’ discrimination, including “denying care, using harsh language, or blaming the patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity as the cause for an illness.”

Health care access is especially compromised for transgender and gender nonconforming people: 48% of trans people have postponed health care when sick or injured because they couldn’t afford it, 28% due to discrimination, and 19% due to being refused care — plus, 28% of trans people have reported being subjected to harassment in medical settings.

At a time when trans rights — and specifically gender-affirming care — are under attack by right-wing politicians in states across the country, it’s more important than ever that we protect these services and make clear what we know is true: trans rights are human rights, and gender-affirming care is health care.

While we fight to protect these services, we also have a vision of a future with true health care justice: a system in which every person — regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and more — can get the health care they need when they need it. That’s why we fight for Medicare for All.

Medicare for All would not only eliminate financial barriers to care while providing additional funding, protections, and support for medically underserved communities, but the language in the most recent version of our federal legislation, the Medicare for All Act of 2023 (HR 3421), explicitly includes gender-affirming care in the list of comprehensive benefits that would be covered under this system.

We stand in strong solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community and look forward to celebrating this Pride Month with you!

In solidarity,

Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All

 

Source:

“LGBTQI+ Health Equity,” National Nurses United