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Health Disparities In The LGBT Community

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The focus of this paper is to shed light to the fact that there are health disparities within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* (LGBT) population. When a couple is granted the right to marry, it becomes possible for health insurance companies to recognize that. As a result, all family members are covered by whoever’s employer offers the best plan. Married couples and families are then able to access health care when needed. Whereas heterosexual couples who are married and have families are able to be on one joint health insurance plan, LGBT couples do not have the same luxury. Until recently, many states within the United States did not allow homosexual/LGBT couples to get married. Due to the fact that LGBT couples have not been recognized …show more content…

According to a study done by University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) professors Julia Heck, Randall Sell, and Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin (2006), women in same-sex relationships were significantly less likely than women in opposite-sex relationships to have health insurance coverage, to have seen a medical provider in the past 12 months, and to have a primary physician. Additionally, researchers found that women and men in same-sex relationships were more likely to report unmet medical needs as opposed to those in heterosexual relationships (Buchmueller & Carpenter, 2010). Although the reasoning for lack of health insurance coverage and unmet medical needs could vary depending on the individual and on the same-sex couple, there seems to be an overlying cause for the …show more content…

Notably, the “T” in LGBT stands for transgender, which includes those who do not conform to the traditional ideals of their ‘gender’ or birth sex (Ard & Makadon, 2012). In some cases, these individuals may decide to go through hormonal therapy or surgery to alter their gender identity. Due to the fact that the transgender population in the US is known to only be 0.3%, many are uneducated about the medical needs of these individuals, including physicians (Ard & Makadon, 2012). Moreover, a policy to diminish LGBT care disparities should also educate people (especially physicians) in understanding the cultural context of their patients’ lives (LGBT individuals) in order for all people to attain the best possible

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