Professor Belkin: Health Costs for Transgender Military Personnel Minimal

MODERN HEALTHCARE -- The health expense associated with transition care for transgender military personnel would not be cost prohibitive if a ban on them openly serving is lifted, according to a new analysis. There are about 12,800 personnel serving in the armed forces who are forced to conceal their gender identities. Should they seek transition medical care, it would cost an estimated $5.6 million a year, or 22 cents per member a month, according to a research article published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Author Aaron Belkin, a Political Science professor at San Francisco State University, used the average cost of transition-related care, which included surgery, hormone therapy, or both, from health insurance plans offered by the University of California as the basis for his calculations. The average cost for care came out to $29,929 per person needing treatment over a period of six-and-a-half years.