Healthcare Costs Following Medical Gender-Affirmation: Evidence From Whole-of-Population Australian Administrative Data.

Abstract

Gender incongruence in trans and nonbinary ("trans") populations is often associated with psychological distress and increased demand for mental healthcare. Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is a key component of care for many trans people, yet long-term evidence around its cost implications remains limited despite increasing uptake and policy attention worldwide. We provide the first population-based evidence on the healthcare costs of GAHT initiation using longitudinal administrative data from 32,313 trans Australians who initiated testosterone-based GAHT (tGAHT) or estradiol-based GAHT (eGAHT) between 2013 and 2024. Employing a dynamic difference-in-differences design, we estimate t..