The Burden of Morbidity Among Transgender People

09/21/21 • 22 min

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Recent reports suggest about six-tenths of a percent of the United States population, or 1.4 million people, identify as transgender. Transgender individuals are people whose personal and gender identity are different from the gender they were thought to be at birth.

Good information about the health status of this group has been hard to come by although research is growing. Some data come from Medicare, which is useful but not representative of the population as a whole.

Landon Hughes, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, joins A Health Podyssey to discuss a paper he and coauthors published in the September issue of Health Affairs describing the morbidity of privately-insured, transgender individuals as compared to cisgender people, or those whose personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.

Using insurance claims data from 2001 to 2019, Hughes and colleagues report that transgender people were at an overall greater risk for morbidity than their cisgender counterparts across a broad range of conditions.

If you like this interview, order the September issue of Health Affairs.

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If you like this interview, order the September issue of Health Affairs.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

Previous Episode

Leemore Dafny on Hospital Prices, Markets, and Antitrust Regulations

The US government reports that the total spending on hospital care in 2019 was almost $1.2 trillion. High and highly variable hospital prices have been in the news recently in part due to new information made available under the price transparency rules implemented by the Trump administration.

Competitive markets are supposed to constrain prices, but in much of the US, there's little competition among hospitals and consolidation throughout the healthcare sector has contributed to that consolidation. The result is a number of proposals to regulate health care prices in general and for hospital prices in particular.

Leemore Dafny from the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss her latest research on hospital prices and market concentration.
Dafny and colleagues published a paper in the September 2021 issue of Health Affairs analyzing hospital prices and relating them to market concentration. The authors found the relationship isn't as straightforward as one might expect — but the findings still have major implications for any consideration of regulating hospital prices.
If you like this interview, order the September issue of Health Affairs.

Pre-order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue.

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Next Episode

How Dementia Care Integrates Formal and Informal Care Services

Roughly 6 million adults ages 65 and older in the United States have dementia. That number is projected to more than double by 2050.

Family caregivers play an essential role in caring for people with dementia, including help with dressing to eating assistance and more.

In 2020, it's estimated that more than 11 million family members and other unpaid caregivers provided care to people with dementia. But what about those who don't have family members who can provide this needed care?

HwaJung Choi, a research assistant professor from the University of Michigan, joins A Health Podyssey to talk about the availability of family members to provide care to adults with dementia.

Choi and colleagues published a paper in the September 2021 issue of Health Affairs which found that 18% of dementia patients received care from their spouse and 27% received it from an adult child.

The authors also identified racial disparities in caregiver availability, and much more.

Listen to Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interview HwaJung Choi on family care availability and implications for informal and formal care used by American adults with dementia.

If you like this interview, order the September issue of Health Affairs.

Pre-order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts