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“For many of our patients, this care truly is lifesaving. Every day that I see patients for gender-affirming care, they come in asking, ‘What do I do if I can’t get my medication any more?’ or ‘What’s the timeline here for me? How soon do I need to leave the state of West Virginia?’ Our patients have constant fear on their minds.” — Danielle Maness, medical director and interim executive director of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia.
The Women’s Health Center of West Virginia in Charleston, West Virginia, is one of only two community health providers in the state that openly offers gender-affirming care. (Photo courtesy of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia)
By Gabriella Souza
A year and a half ago, Danté Vega stopped taking the testosterone that was an integral part of his transition to his male identity. When he left his job two years ago, he lost his health insurance and enrolled in Medicaid. However, the hormone replacement therapy drugs he was prescribed proved too expensive.
Vega’s story is one that healthcare providers and the LGBTQ+ community say is common in West Virginia, where an increasingly hostile political environment has made it difficult to obtain the medication and medical care to assist with gender transitioning.
NATIONAL
A couple sits with their newborn inside their Bentonville, Arkansas, home. The Trump administration is shifting the federal Title X program, which has traditionally provided access to contraception, toward an emphasis on childbearing. (Photo by Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
By Sofia Resnick
A federal poverty-fighting program focused on reducing unintended pregnancies is about to undergo a major overhaul.
COMMENTARY
In 2022, U.S. prices across all drugs were nearly 2.78 times as high as prices in comparable countries, according to a study by RAND Health Care. (Photo by JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)
By Jack Bernard
Gov. Jim Justice was an advocate for lower drug prices when he was governor. Now that he can actually do something about it by proposing national legislation to codify “most favored nations” pricing (see below), not a peep do we hear. Similarly, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has called on Congress to regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers — but has not pushed for most favored nations pricing.
ICYMI
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