Healthcare Inequality: What LGBTQ Folks Must Know

What are the economic consequences of healthcare inequality

Find out what LGBTQ folks must know about healthcare inequality on this episode. Then download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter, a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence.

How can we improve healthcare inequality

Statistics reveal alarming disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes for LGBTQ+ people. Discouraged by discriminatory practices and inadequate cultural competency, queer individuals are 26% more likely than our straight and cisgender counterparts to have intentionally delayed, avoided, or skipped an exam in the last 12 months. So, how can we improve the existing healthcare system and work toward equitable care for our community?

Alex Sheldon is Executive Director of GLMA: Healthcare Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, the world’s oldest and largest association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and allied healthcare professionals. In addition to leading GLMA, Alex is a professional researcher, strategist, and advocate with more than 15 years of experience in human rights.

On this episode of Queer Money®, Alex joins us to explain how the healthcare needs of the LGBTQ+ community differ from that of the general population and what’s behind the disparities in access to care. They discuss what makes cultural competency essential for the health of historically excluded populations and describe where to find affirming healthcare providers who are sensitive to the needs of LGBTQ+ people. We explore what’s on the line for LGBTQ+ people in the upcoming presidential election, and Alex shares what makes them optimistic about the state of healthcare in the queer community.

Listen in to understand how the barriers to access we face in financial services parallel healthcare systems and learn how to help GLMA advance LGBTQ+ health equity in the US.

Listen to get insight on healthcare inequality

Topics covered on healthcare inequality

How the healthcare needs of the LGBTQ+ community differ from that of the general population
Why queer people invest less but spend more on healthcare than our straight counterparts
What makes cultural competency essential for the physical, mental, and economic health of historically excluded populations
Where to find affirming healthcare providers who are sensitive to the needs of LGBTQ+ people
Why transgender and nonbinary individuals feel these healthcare disparities most acutely
What’s on the line for the LGBTQ+ community in the upcoming presidential election
The danger in allowing the political right to base healthcare policy around ideology vs. evidence
How the barriers to access we face in financial services parallel that of healthcare systems
What makes Alex optimistic about the state of healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community
What’s driving the increase in health literacy among the queer population and the rising number of allied health professionals
How to get involved in helping GLMA advance LGBTQ+ health equity and accessibility in the US

Connect with Alex

Alex Sheldon on LinkedIn
GLMA
GLMA on LinkedIn
GLMA_LGBThealth on Instagram
GLMA.LGBTQhealth on Facebook
GLMA_LGBThealth on X
GLMA_LGBThealth on Threads

Resources on healthcare inequality

GLMA’s LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory
HHS’s Nondiscrimination Rule on HHS.gov
Donor Advised Funds on Queer Money EP386
Wealth Builder’s Pyramid
CreditWise

Connect with David and John

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We’re David and John Auten-Schneider, the Debt Free Guys (www.debtfreeguys.com), and the Queer Money® podcast hosts. We help queer people (and allies) live fabulously, not fabulously broke, by helping them 1) pay off credit card debt, 2) become part- or full-time entrepreneurs and 3) save and invest for retirement.