WASHINGTON, D.C–(ENEWSPF)–March 29, 2011. Today, the Center for American Progress and the National Coalition for LGBT Health mark LGBT Health Awareness Week with the release of “Changing the Game: What Health Care Reform Means for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans,” by Jeff Krehely and Kellan Baker. This report discusses the Affordable Care Act’s impact on LGBT people – among other benefits, the law will soon help gay and transgender Americans, many of whom were struggling to afford health insurance, to get coverage through state insurance exchanges or Medicaid.
The Affordable Care Act is also key to efforts such as expanding cultural competency in the health care workforce to include LGBT issues, making preventive care available to everyone who needs it, improving data collection to better identify and address health disparities, and recognizing the increasing diversity of America’s families. Despite these and other benefits for the LGBT community, the impact of the Affordable Care Act on gay and transgender people and their families remains largely unexplored.
This report provides an overview of the health disparities experienced by gay and transgender Americans, followed by a brief discussion of several provisions of the Affordable Care Act that hold particular promise for improving the health and well-being of the LGBT community. The report continues into an investigation of four major areas where efforts by LGBT advocates and their allies in each state will be key to ensuring that the new health law delivers the largest possible positive results for the LGBT community when the law is fully implemented by 2014.
Specifically, these areas are:
- Achieving comprehensive nondiscrimination protections in health insurance exchanges
- Establishing LGBT-inclusive data collection policies
- Recognizing and including LGBT families in all health reform activities
- Supporting community-based health interventions that are LGBT-inclusive
To read the full report, click here.
Related Reports:
How to Improve Mental Health Care for LGBT Youth
How to Close the LGBT Health Disparities Gap
Repealing Progress: Slashing Health Reform Will Hurt Vulnerable Populations
Source: americanprogress.org
