Health Insurance Coverage of Permanent Hair Removal in Transgender and Gender-Minority Patients.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Hair removal can be an essential component of the gender affirmation process for gender-minority (GM) patients whose outward appearance does not align with their gender identity.

Objective

To examine the health insurance policies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace and Medicaid policies for coverage of permanent hair removal for transgender and GM patients and to correlate the policies in each state with statewide protections of coverage for gender-affirming care.

Design and setting

Private health insurance policies available on the ACA marketplace and statewide Medicaid policies were examined in a cross-sectional study from September 1 to October 31, 2019, and January 17 to 30, 2020. Policies were assessed for coverage of permanent hair removal. L

SUBMITTER: Thoreson N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7097839 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature