Trans Patient Experience Marked by Health Care Access Woes

By Sara Heath

A new report from KFF highlights the health care access issues and discrimination faced by trans adults. The survey of 515 trans adults (individuals whose gender is not the same as the gender assigned at birth) and 823 cisgender adults (those whose gender is the same as the gender assigned at birth) revealed that 17% of trans adults have been refused care by a provider due to their gender identity. Additionally, 46% of trans adults had difficulty finding affordable health care, versus 37% of cisgender adults. The survey also found that 47% of trans adults faced long appointment wait times, versus 37% of cisgender adults. Moreover, 37% of trans adults had trouble accessing health care with a provider they were comfortable with, compared to just 24% of cisgender adults. About 50% of trans adults said their providers knew either “not too much” or “nothing at all” about providing health care to trans people, and 31% said they had to educate their providers to obtain appropriate care. Among other things, the survey found that 31% of trans adults had a provider refuse to acknowledge their preferred gender, and 29% were asked invasive, irrelevant questions about their gender identity.

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