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How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers
INTRODUCTION: In the United States, 1.4–1.65 million people identify as transgender, many of whom will seek genital gender-affirming surgery (GAS). The number of surgeons, geographic proximity thereof, and exclusionary insurance policies has limited patient access to genital GAS. AIM: To assess the...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7691873/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33023854 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.08.005 |
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author | Terris-Feldman, Alexandra Chen, Alessandra Poudrier, Grace Garcia, Maurice |
author_facet | Terris-Feldman, Alexandra Chen, Alessandra Poudrier, Grace Garcia, Maurice |
author_sort | Terris-Feldman, Alexandra |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: In the United States, 1.4–1.65 million people identify as transgender, many of whom will seek genital gender-affirming surgery (GAS). The number of surgeons, geographic proximity thereof, and exclusionary insurance policies has limited patient access to genital GAS. AIM: To assess the accessibility of both feminizing and masculinizing genital GAS (vaginoplasty, metoidioplasty, and phalloplasty) by identifying the location of GAS surgeons, health insurance, or payment forms accepted. METHODS: Between February and April 2018, genital GAS surgeons were identified via Google search. Surgeons’ offices were contacted by telephone or e-mail. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: We queried the type of genital GAS performed, the health insurance or payment forms accepted, and the type of medical practice (academic, private, or group managed-care practice). RESULTS: We identified 96 surgeons across 64 individual medical centers offering genital GAS. The survey response rate was 83.3%. Only 61 of 80 (76.3%) surgeons across 38 of 53 (72%) locations confirmed offering genital GAS. Only 20 (40%) U.S. states had at least one genital GAS provider. 30 of 38 (79%) locations reported accepting any form of insurance. Only 24 of 38 (63%) locations (14 academic; 10 private/group) accepted Medicaid (P = .016); 18 of 38 (47%) locations (13 academic; 5 private/group) accepted Medicare (P = .001). CLINICAL TRANSLATION: Reconciliation of the public policies regarding insurance coverage for GAS with the actual practices of the providers is necessary for improving access to GAS for transgender individuals. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: We purposefully used a methodology mirroring how a patient would find GAS surgeons, which also accounts for key limitations: only surgeons whose services were featured on the internet were identified. We could not verify the services or insurance-related information surgeons reported. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that access to genital GAS is significantly limited by the number of providers and the uneven geographic distribution across the United States, in which only 20 of 50 U.S. states have at least one genital GAS surgeon. Feldman AT, Chen A, Poudrier G, et al. How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers. Sex Med 2020;8:664–672. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7691873 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-76918732020-12-07 How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers Terris-Feldman, Alexandra Chen, Alessandra Poudrier, Grace Garcia, Maurice Sex Med Original Research INTRODUCTION: In the United States, 1.4–1.65 million people identify as transgender, many of whom will seek genital gender-affirming surgery (GAS). The number of surgeons, geographic proximity thereof, and exclusionary insurance policies has limited patient access to genital GAS. AIM: To assess the accessibility of both feminizing and masculinizing genital GAS (vaginoplasty, metoidioplasty, and phalloplasty) by identifying the location of GAS surgeons, health insurance, or payment forms accepted. METHODS: Between February and April 2018, genital GAS surgeons were identified via Google search. Surgeons’ offices were contacted by telephone or e-mail. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: We queried the type of genital GAS performed, the health insurance or payment forms accepted, and the type of medical practice (academic, private, or group managed-care practice). RESULTS: We identified 96 surgeons across 64 individual medical centers offering genital GAS. The survey response rate was 83.3%. Only 61 of 80 (76.3%) surgeons across 38 of 53 (72%) locations confirmed offering genital GAS. Only 20 (40%) U.S. states had at least one genital GAS provider. 30 of 38 (79%) locations reported accepting any form of insurance. Only 24 of 38 (63%) locations (14 academic; 10 private/group) accepted Medicaid (P = .016); 18 of 38 (47%) locations (13 academic; 5 private/group) accepted Medicare (P = .001). CLINICAL TRANSLATION: Reconciliation of the public policies regarding insurance coverage for GAS with the actual practices of the providers is necessary for improving access to GAS for transgender individuals. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: We purposefully used a methodology mirroring how a patient would find GAS surgeons, which also accounts for key limitations: only surgeons whose services were featured on the internet were identified. We could not verify the services or insurance-related information surgeons reported. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that access to genital GAS is significantly limited by the number of providers and the uneven geographic distribution across the United States, in which only 20 of 50 U.S. states have at least one genital GAS surgeon. Feldman AT, Chen A, Poudrier G, et al. How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers. Sex Med 2020;8:664–672. Elsevier 2020-10-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7691873/ /pubmed/33023854 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.08.005 Text en © 2020 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Original Research Terris-Feldman, Alexandra Chen, Alessandra Poudrier, Grace Garcia, Maurice How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title | How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title_full | How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title_fullStr | How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title_full_unstemmed | How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title_short | How Accessible Is Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Patients With Commercial and Public Health Insurance in the United States? Results of a Patient-Modeled Search for Services and a Survey of Providers |
title_sort | how accessible is genital gender-affirming surgery for transgender patients with commercial and public health insurance in the united states? results of a patient-modeled search for services and a survey of providers |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7691873/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33023854 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.08.005 |
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