Anti-Trans Health Care Discrimination Already Happens Here: Anton’s Story
by Cerys Beckwith
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new regulation that would encourage hospitals, doctors, and other health care workers to discriminate against anyone they don’t want to treat — including trans patients.
HHS claims that under its guidelines, providers could turn trans people away and deny them access to basic health services and transition-related care. These regulations would violate federal law and hurt transgender patients, as well as people who need reproductive health care, survivors of assault and sexual violence, and many others.
We know that transgender people are already experiencing discrimination in health care. We will be sharing stories and encouraging you to share yours to let HHS know the impact of bad health care laws.
If you would like to step up and tell your story, send in your comments by March 27 — that’s just 4 days from today!
Anton’s Story
Anton Prosser, a transgender man, is one of the many trans people who has experienced discrimination when attempting to access health care.
Anton started transitioning in 2014. He went to his primary care physician to request hormone treatment. This office refused to give out this simple prescription, claiming they had no experience providing it and would not even consider the minimal research needed to prescribe it.
Despite preferring to stay at his long-term clinic, Anton began searching for a new doctor. Over and over, he was told by health care providers within his insurance plan that they did not take transgender patients who needed hormone therapy.
Furious, Anton was forced to go outside of his insurance coverage to find the appropriate care. It cost him additional time, energy, and money to finally find a clinic who would treat his gender dysphoria through medically appropriate hormone therapy.
Anton continues to see a provider outside of his insurance coverage, bouncing back and forth between doctors for his hormone therapy and his other primary medical care. With a family history of heart disease, Anton is concerned and scared that the new HHS regulations could keep him from even basic health care. He is terrified that in 5 years, he could have a heart attack and an EMT could refuse to treat him solely because of their beliefs about trans people.
After having other negative medical experiences, Anton is dreading the possibility that his health could suffer because a provider’s moral judgement is deemed more important than providing life-saving medical care.
If you want to stop the Trump/Pence administration from passing regulations that would legalize situations like Anton’s, send your comments to HHS in the next four days, by March 27. Let them know why you oppose this rule and how they will negatively impact the trans community.
Cerys Beckwith was an undergraduate intern at NCTE.
