Plume helps provide healthcare to trans community

More than 1.4 million people identify as transgender but more than 70 percent report experiencing some sort of discrimination when it comes to health care. Plume is now providing safe, expert and inclusive gender-affirming hormone therapy through telehealth. Plume is now available in 24 states, including Ohio, for those 18 years and older who desire medical hormone therapy. "We are just really, really determined to continue until we improve health care for every single trans life in America," said Anuva Kalawar, community manager at Plume. "It started last year as a way to solve for barriers to access to care." Kalawar, who uses they/them pronouns, said millions of transgender people struggle to access health care, whether that's from fear of discrimination or lack of understanding. "Our entirely virtual model allows Plume to scale faster, we can be wherever trans people are," they said. "Our care team is mostly trans themselves and that gives us greater empathy and understanding for the trans experience." Patients of Plume can talk to the care team at any time Monday through Sunday during business hours. Plume has licensed physicians in every state they are available in and are adding hundreds of new members a month. "Many patients wait months and months to be seen by a physician. Through our model, the informed consent model, we can see patients within a few days and they're able to get their hormone therapy, sometimes almost immediately," Kalawar said. "I spent years trying to get testosterone gender-affirming hormone therapy and then within one day, I was able to go to the pharmacy the same day as I had my appointment." Kalawar said Plume is changing lives and saving them. For some, not being able to get gender-affirming hormone therapy can be a point of life and death for people. Being able to solve this lack of access to health care can open up a world of possibilities. "Having that community first model is really central to our organization. We are so thankful to be working alongside that," they said. "In places like Ohio, the trans women who run TransOhio, they're the folks who are spreading the word about Plume services, but they're also the folks who have been doing the educational work about what estrogen and testosterone can do for the community." Kalawar said it can be life-changing for a transgender person to hear from a doctor their gender identity is valid and learn how to take hormone therapy. "It's amazing what it can do for your well-being physically, mentally, emotionally. It really does shift things," they said. Plume does not require health insurance to be a member and uses a direct payment model to keep costs low. There is some financial assistance available. Currently in Ohio, estrogen gender-affirming hormone therapy is available and Plume is working to make testosterone available. "Our medical leaders can speak to communities, doctors because a lot of their work, in addition to caring for trans people, is shifting the narrative about health care in general," Kalawar said. "The greater arc of the story of Plume is solving the patient-provider relationship. We are constantly talking to folks who used to have to drive three hours and now can get health care immediately. It's totally life-changing." Want to sign up? Go to https://getplume.co/get-started/ to sign up and start the process. The secure communication app, Spruce, allows Plume to keep sensitive medical information private and secure. Through Spruce, patients can contact their providers and care team by text, phone, or video chat.