UCLA study spotlights gaps in health care access among California ’s LGBT community

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in California face significant barriers in accessing health care despite having similar or better rates of health insurance coverage than heterosexual or cisgender adults, anew UCLA report shows.These barriers include a lack of timely access to needed care, not having a usual source of care, having trouble finding providers and experiencing unfair treatment, according to researchers from UCLA ’sCenter for Health Policy Research andWilliams Institute who conducted the study.Using data from the health policy center ’sCalifornia Health Interview Survey from 2015 to 2020, the researchers tracked health care access and insurance coverage by sexual orientation and gender identity. They found that bisexual men and women were the most likely of all groups to report not having a usual source of health care (27% and 24%, respectively) and that rates of delaying or not getting needed medical care were considerably higher among bisexual women (33%) and lesbian women (23%) than straight women (16%).The study also found that transgender adults experienced greater barriers to care than cisgender adults (those whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth) in a number of areas. Rates of delaying or not getting needed medical care, for example, were more than twice as high among transgender adults (33%) as cisgender adults (14%).“Our study points out several of the health care access barriers the LGBT community in Califor...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news