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FOLX INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL

Informed consent, adopted as a standard in 2011 by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, still isn’t the norm across the United States. Breitenstein argues Folx’s model makes it “more patient-centric,” enabling it to provide supplies and resources that might not be covered by insurance Folx will soon expand its offerings to include skin-and hair-care products and STI kits, and already provides the generic version of the HIV preventative PrEP at $90 a month.īoth Folx and Plume operate under the “informed consent” model, in which patients have greater autonomy over their hormone use and dosage. Breitenstein, Folx’s CEO, says services like hers allow “our community to access health care privately and not have to walk through the gantlet of what we know will be a trans-focused attack on health care services.” But these services are expensive, and while patients’ insurance may cover the cost of medication, none of the startups accepts insurance toward subscription fees. “I wonder what it would look like to have an anti-capitalist resource center to help get people basic things that they need as trans people.”Ī.G. Their websites are sleekly designed and millennial-minded their social media pages feature photos and videos of trans influencers against soft pastel backgrounds, sharing stories of body autonomy and trans joy. All have trans or nonbinary CEOs, and Folx and Plume boast numerous trans clinicians on staff. Euphoria, a suite of health, finance, and transition-tracking apps promoted as the “Adobe equivalent” for transition, has garnered more than $250,000 from major funders like Chelsea Clinton.Įach of these services has crowned itself the “first” in trans telehealth. Folx picked up $25 million from firms including Bessemer Venture Partners, a backer of Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Yelp-it’s offered HRT in 17 states since January and is expanding to include skin- and hair-care products. Plume launched in 2019 with $14 million from funders like Craft Ventures, a backer of Elon Musk’s SpaceX it’s available in 33 states. Everyone is trying to cash in, from Amazon’s recent investments in health care startups to Apple’s attempts to build its own primary care service. Unlike federally subsidized brick-and-mortar clinics, these digital outfits are backed by venture capital, which sees a lucrative opportunity in the pandemic-driven telemedicine boom. Trans telehealth services believe they can change that-and turn a profit. According to a 2015 study, a third of trans people report that health care providers have harassed them or denied them treatment on the basis of their gender identity. It’s a niche market aimed at eliminating the barriers trans people face to accessing healthcare. Plume is one of dozens of telehealth services catering to trans clients that have cropped up in the last two years. That night, Felicity picked up her first dose. Later that day, Plume connected her with a local physician who prescribed her estrogen and dutasteride, a testosterone blocker. They asked her a few questions and chatted about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) options. Three days after she paid the $99-per-month subscription fee, Felicity met by video with a team of clinicians. Scrolling through Twitter one night, Felicity read about Plume, a new subscription telehealth service that makes it easier for trans people to access hormones, lab work, and letters for surgeries and name changes. She “called them every day” and still couldn’t get on the waitlist. But the pandemic meant waitlists were backlogged for months, forcing Felicity to wait at least until March for a consultation and likely longer to begin taking estrogen. At the start of 2021, she spent weeks calling Planned Parenthoods in Fort Worth, Texas, where she and her spouse live. “It was an attempt to break from who I was and who I grew up as,” she told me on the drive to her trucking company’s office. The 36-year-old trucker changed her name, adopted the middle name Saoirse- freedom in Gaelic-and started looking into transitioning medically.

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Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.īy August, Felicity Giles knew it was time.

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