Spinal Cord Stimulator Inequities Within the US Military Health System

Variation in Time-to-Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy in US Active Duty Service Members

“…This study demonstrated racialized inequities in time-to-gender-affirming hormone therapy initiation in Asian and Pacific Islander and Black Service members, relative to white Service members. Given the multileveled and multifaceted ways in which institutional and structural racism intersect with transmisia (eg, discrimination and marginalization of transgender people) 27,28 and documented racialized inequities in MHS care, [12][13][14][15] the present findings reflect the need for system-level health equity monitoring and intervention. 16 Moreover, the present study found that Service members with a first assigned gender marker of male experienced greater delays to gender-affirming hormone therapy initiation, relative to those with a first assigned gender marker of female.…”

“…Although the US Military Health System (MHS) is a single payor system that, per policy, should provide equitable care, evidence indicates that racialized and socioeconomic inequities (eg, those tied to military rank) persist. [12][13][14][15] As such, it is important to evaluate systemic and institutional barriers to care consistent with health equity monitoring recommendations set forth by the World Health Organization. 16 To enable sound policy recommendations and programming, evaluation of system-and institution-level factors associated with time-to-gender-affirming hormone therapy across a large healthcare system is needed.…”