Illinois LGBTQIA+ Resource Hub

Healthcare

Inform yourself with these reliable healthcare resources.

Know Your Healthcare Rights

While federal law is in flux, it is still illegal for most health plans to discriminate against you because you are transgender. 

If you have experienced a denial of care, call our Illinois Pride Connect Legal Hotline at 855-805-9200. 

Medicaid

In Illinois, Medicaid currently covers gender-affirming care, including youth gender-affirming care. See Medicaid Basics, Services that are Covered by Medicaid, and Prescription Policy for Medicaid. 

Other Health Insurance Plans

Private health plans, including Affordable Care Act plans and most employer-based plans, may not exclude gender-affirming care or specific gender-affirming care services from coverage simply because it relates to gender transition. Insurance companies cannot: 

  • Refuse to enroll you in a plan because you are trans, 

  • Cancel your coverage because you are trans, 

  • Charge you higher rates because you are trans, or

  • Deny you coverage for treatment just because the gender listed on your insurance does not match the gender associated with a particular service.

Also, insurance companies cannot deny you care coverage just because the gender listed on your insurance does not match the gender typically associated with a particular service. For more information on health insurance protections in Illinois:

Doctor wearing a red stethoscope and pride progress pin shaped as a heart.

More Helpful Healthcare Resources and Tools

Advocates 4 Trans Equality Trans Survival Guide

Fact sheet from the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and Transgender Law Center explaining the Department of Justice Subpoenas sent to healthcare facilities treating trans youth

Rights of LGBTQIA+ People in Illinois

All Kids’ Health Insurance Common Questions

Mental Health Treatment for Children

Power of Attorney for Health Care Common Questions

Create your own free Power of Attorney for Health Care Form

Becoming Emancipated

Information about Protect Our Care IL (POCIL), a statewide coalition working to protect Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act

Planned Parenthood of Illinois Action’s LGBTQIA+ Organizing Program, a program for LGBTQIA+ identified community members and allies alike to work together on strategies, actions, and concrete ways that we can advance LGBTQIA+ rights and expand access to gender-affirming and LGBTQIA+ inclusive care across the state. The LGBTQIA+ organizing program is dedicated to uplifting the intersections between reproductive rights and LGBTQIA+ rights, and centering the voices of those who are most affected by barriers to accessing competent care in our state, such as those who live in rural areas, and in care/resource deserts.

Get Help Finding Gender-affirming Care in Illinois

Connect with a volunteer healthcare navigator at Trans Up Front Illinois

Connect with a Healthcare Navigation Specialist through Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) Wellness and Equity Program

Central Illinois Friends is a Peoria-based clinic providing free HIV/STI testing, HIV prevention/treatment, LGBTQ+ care, mental health support and transgender & gender diverse health navigation and support

Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) is one of the largest providers of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) in Illinois. They provide care to transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. PPIL also provides patients with:

  • Help with gender changes on IDs

  • Coordinating and providing referrals for trans-friendly care with known providers for voice therapy, hair removal, gender-affirming surgeries, affirming garments and devices, and primary care or medical specialists

  • Connections with local support and advocacy groups or online communities

  • Providing family planning and pregnancy services for transgender patients including education and counseling for their future of fertility.

  • PPIL offers navigation services for patients traveling from another state that includes financial support and travel arrangements. GAHT services are available at all PPIL health centers statewide and via telehealth.

  • HIV prevention services and counseling at all PPIL health centers across Illinois.

  • Comprehensive STI testing, treatment, information, and other resources you need to stay healthy, and top of your sexual health.

    LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Frequently Asked Questions

  • U.S. v. Skrmetti is a Supreme Court case that was decided in June 2025. The case began as a legal challenge by three transgender adolescents, their families, and a medical provider against a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming hormone treatment for trans youth. The Supreme Court ruled that the Tennessee law was allowed to remain in effect in that state.

  • No. The decision says that Tennessee’s state ban on gender affirming care for youth is legal, but the decision does not outlaw gender affirming care in the US or impact states like Illinois that choose to protect gender affirming care for youth.

  • You can refill your prescriptions as soon as the pharmacy allows and stockpile medication in case of disruptions. Talk with your medical provider or pharmacist to make sure you are using medications safely.

  • It is not illegal to provide or receive gender affirming care, including gender affirming care for youth, in the state of Illinois. Some hospitals have chosen to stop providing this care to youth under 19 , even though there is no legal ban on providing this care in Illinois. Reasons why hospitals and other providers may choose to stop providing this care include fears of being sued or of losing federal funding.

What are Illinois Shield Laws?

In Illinois, we know the value of receiving life-affirming care, and our shield laws reflect and protect this care. Illinois passed state laws that protect our right to receive lawful healthcare against interference from other states; these are called “shield laws.” Illinois shield laws protect healthcare providers and people receiving lawful healthcare from actions taken by other states that do not value this healthcare.

  • Shield laws protect people seeking healthcare from other states that seek to criminalize or create liability for accessing healthcare. In 2023, the state legislature passed shield laws to protect individuals seeking or providing reproductive healthcare (including abortions) and gender-affirming care in Illinois.

  • To learn more about shield laws in Illinois, you can call our Illinois Pride Connect Legal Hotline at 855-805-9200.

    To learn about shield laws in other states, visit UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute website. 


    Your right as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to have access to life-affirming healthcare matters, and is valued in Illinois. In a time where access to gender-affirming and reproductive care is changing rapidly across the nation, Illinois remains committed to protecting access to this healthcare through its shield laws.

    To learn about shield laws in other states, visit UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute website. 

    Your right as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to have access to life-affirming healthcare matters, and is valued in Illinois. In a time where access to gender-affirming and reproductive care is changing rapidly across the nation, Illinois remains committed to protecting access to this healthcare through its shield laws.