The necessity of including gender-affirming care in student health insurance plans

Abstract

Due to multiple factors, transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals are more likely to experience suicidal ideation, engage in intentional injury, and attempt suicide than cisgender individuals. Lack of access to healthcare among TGD individuals may contribute to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Few institutions of higher education include gender-affirming care in their student health insurance plans, neglecting to provide equitable care for their entire student body and further ostracizing TGD people. By including all-encompassing, gender-affirming student health insurance, institutions of higher learning have the opportunity to preserve TGD individuals’ physical and mental health and promote student well-being.

Keywords:

• Gender-affirming care
• gender diverse
• healthcare access transgender
• health equity
• student health insurance

Author contributions

Elinor Shelp-Peck: Conceptualization (lead); writing – original draft (lead); writing – review and editing (lead). Patrick Assi: writing – review and editing (equal). Salam Al Kassis: Writing – review and editing (equal).

Notes

1 It is important to note that not all TGD-identified individuals experience GD, nor do all people with GD want to access gender-affirming medical services.¹⁹

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.