As providers of transgender health services (and Pride Foundation grantees!), we at Cedar River Clinics were very excited to learn that the Foundation has begun offering its staff supplemental transgender health benefits. Pride Foundation’s decision to ensure that all of its employees have access to healthcare comes at an important moment in history. As a provider, I have seen how expanded access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) greatly benefits my transgender and gender variant patients. More and more patients are coming in for care that would have been delayed without insurance.
On the other hand, both as a provider and a transgender person myself, I am well aware that the ACA falls short in reaching full healthcare equity. Gender affirming treatments still have to be paid out of pocket, and important surgical procedures remain out of reach. I know that someday insurance exclusions that discriminate against transgender people will be a thing of the past. In the meantime, as we keep pushing for change, I commend organizations like Pride Foundation for putting their commitment to social justice into action through supplemental health benefits programs.
Blog written by Simon Adriane Ellis, ARNP, CNM, Cedar River Clinics – Well Woman & LGBTQ Wellness Services