LGBTQ+ adults receive less health care than non-LGBTQ+ adults, according to a recently released study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonpartisan organization focused on health policy. They are twice as likely to report a negative experience.
KFF’s findings highlight the challenges gay people face in medical settings, including high rates of discrimination against young people, the poor, and LGBTQ+ women. The findings highlight steps that health institutions, providers, and legislators can take to address LGBTQ+ discrimination and access to care.
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The study found that 61% of LGBTQ+ adults reported a negative experience while seeking medical care in the past three years, compared to 31% of non-LGBTQ+ adults. These negative experiences include providers making personal assumptions without asking questions, blaming patients personally for health problems, ignoring direct questions or requests, This includes refusing to prescribe painkillers.
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Approximately 24% of LGBTQ+ adults say a negative experience with healthcare has contributed to a worsening of their personal health, compared to 9% of non-LGBTQ+ adults. About 60% of LGBTQ+ adults said they felt the need to prepare for negative medical experiences, compared to 40% of non-LGBTQ+ adults. About 39% of LGBTQ+ people said a negative experience made them less likely to seek medical care, compared with 15% of non-LGBTQ+ adults.
Low-income, younger, and female LGBTQ+ people were more likely to report experiencing discrimination or mistreatment while receiving health care. Additionally, Black and Hispanic LGBTQ+ people were each 11 to 16 percent more likely to experience mistreatment in a medical setting because of their racial identity.
KFF Bar chart comparing negative medical experiences between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ demographics
These negative experiences may also have a negative impact on the mental health of LGBTQ+ people, with gay people likely to report higher levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression than non-LGBTQ+ people21 % to 27% higher. LGBTQ+ adults are also twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to report needing mental health services but not receiving them in the past year.
Adults who had friends, family, or a large support network nearby were less likely to experience a serious mental health crisis, regardless of whether they identified as LGBTQ+. However, only a minority of LGBTQ+ adults said their health care providers asked about factors that can seriously impact people’s mental health, such as work, housing status, and access to food and transportation. It was 29% of the total.
Despite these findings, the KFF report found that 81% of LGBTQ+ respondents believe that medical professionals understand and respect their cultural values and beliefs and explain things to them in a way they can understand. It also turned out that he answered that he had done so. Approximately 70% said their health care professional spent sufficient time with them during their visit, and 76% said their professional was involved in decision-making about their care.
“The challenges highlighted by this data are focused on increasing focus on the social determinants of health, health care provider training, nondiscrimination protection, addressing stigma, and combating social isolation. “We also identify areas where policy development could improve the well-being of LGBT people, including in terms of access to care,” the study concluded.
The findings come from KFF’s 2023 Racism, Discrimination, and Health Survey. The survey was conducted from June 6 to August 14 among a nationally representative sample of 6,292 U.S. adults using online and telephone surveys.
