Insurance coverage and use of hormones among transgender respondents to a national survey

Abstract

PURPOSE We undertook a study to assess the associations between barriers to insurance coverage for gender-affirming hormones (either lack of insurance or claim denial) and patterns of hormone use among transgender adults. METHODS We used data from the US Transgender Survey, a large national sample of 27,715 transgender adults, collected from August to September 2015. We calculated weighted proportions and performed multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS Of 12,037 transgender adults using hormones, 992 (9.17%) were using nonprescription hormones. Among insured respondents, 2,528 (20.81%) reported that their claims were denied. Use of nonprescription hormones was more common among respondents who were uninsured (odds ratio = 2.64; 95% CI, 1.88-3.71; P