In the last year, there have been over 100 bills introduced or passed in 41 states that seek to limit the rights of transgender people, with a substantial amount of legislation aimed at trans youth's access to gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care is medical and mental healthcare that helps affirm individuals' gender identities with treatments such as counseling and hormone therapy. Medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry agree this care saves lives.
That's why Plume, a telehealth platform that works specifically to provide hormone therapy for the trans community, is on a mission to expand access despite the political landscape, says Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, co-founder and chief medical officer at Plume.
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"I'm a trans person myself, so I have seen both sides of the curtain on what it can be like as a trans person trying to access healthcare in this country," says Dr. Kirkley. "It can be incredibly challenging and sometimes impossible. But we know gender-affirming care is life-saving care."
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"It can be very hard to find a provider because we don't have universal training of gender-affirming care in healthcare professional schools," says Dr. Kirkley. "If you go into your run of mill brick and mortar primary care clinic, you may face a lot of trauma and dysphoria."
Dr. Kirkley notes that trans patients are often misgendered, called by the wrong name or simply denied treatment. Plume, on the other hand, is virtually accessible with over half of the company identifying as transgender themselves — and this includes their doctors, nurses and care team, who guide patients through the platform.
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"The combination of ease of access and the affirmation that comes with knowing you have a provider who understands your lived experience and can provide both the cultural and clinical confidence is often unmatched," says Dr. Kirkley. "Even in centers that focus on LGBTQ+ care can have stigma and discrimination within and outside the facility."
By being fully virtual, Dr. Kirkely hopes Plume can offer a sense of anonymity and safety to those seeking care. The three-year-old company is now active in 42 states and has served over 16,000 patients. Anyone can access Plume directly, but Dr. Kirkley is looking to employers to be part of making trans healthcare more widely available by including platforms like Plume as an employee benefit.
And with trans healthcare under threat in so many states, companies with a sizable LGBTQ community may want to reconsider their healthcare benefits.
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"If you have a subset of your employee base who doesn't have care options across state lines, then you can work with us," says Dr. Kirkley. "We can provide care no matter where they are."
Trans health does encompass more than hormonal therapy, and while Plume includes support groups and medical letters of support for surgery or name and gender marker changes, employers should also give their mental health benefits another look. Counseling and therapy can go a long way in affirming one's identity, Dr. Kirkley explains.
Most importantly, Dr. Kirkley encourages employers to listen to the needs of their workforce and act, rather than waiting on bad news from election results and politicians — and she hopes that Plume can be part of that positive action.
"Our organization is going to focus on the needs of a community that many health organizations have historically ignored," says Dr. Kirkley. "Our vision is to transform healthcare for every trans life."
