Medicaid as an LGBTQ Reproductive Justice Issue: A Primer

The reproductive justice framework is rooted in the belief that all individuals and communities should have the resources and power they need to make their own decisions about their bodies, genders, sexualities, families, and lives. Access to Medicaid coverage is vital to fulfulling this framework for LGBTQ people. Medicaid covers a broad range of health services, including medically necessary gender-affirming treatments for transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals.

“Medicaid as an LGBTQ Reproductive Justice Issue: A Primer” (The Primer) is a joint project of the National Health Law Program, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, and the National LGBTQ Task Force. All* Above All also contributed to the section on the Hyde Amendment.

About The Primer

The Primer is an educational resource intended to provide advocates and policy makers with information about the importance of the Medicaid program for LGBTQ people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals and communities. The Primer provides an overview of the following topics:

●   Why Medicaid is an LGBTQ issue

●   Gender-Affirming Care in Medicaid

●   Legislation Advancing LGBTQ Access to Medicaid

●   Why the Hyde Amendment Hurts LGBTQ Communities