By the Numbers - July 25, 2016
1,320 - 6,630
The estimated number of transgender active duty Service members, according to a recently published report by the RAND Corporation -- Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly. As the RAND researchers note:
It is difficult to estimate the number of transgender personnel in the military due to current policies and a lack of empirical data. Applying a range of prevalence estimates, combining data from multiple surveys, and adjusting for the male/female distribution in the military provided a midrange estimate of around 2,450 transgender personnel in the active component (out of a total number of approximately 1.3 million active-component service members) and 1,510 in the Selected Reserve.
The report indicates that just a small subset of these Service members -- estimates are between 29 and 129 in a given year -- "will seek transition-related care that could disrupt their ability to deploy." As for the cost of such care:
Using private health insurance claims data to estimate the cost of extending gender transition–related health care coverage to transgender personnel indicated that active-component health care costs would increase by between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually, representing a 0.04- to 0.13-percent increase in active-component health care expenditures.
1,320 - 6,630
The estimated number of transgender active duty Service members, according to a recently published report by the RAND Corporation -- Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly. As the RAND researchers note:
It is difficult to estimate the number of transgender personnel in the military due to current policies and a lack of empirical data. Applying a range of prevalence estimates, combining data from multiple surveys, and adjusting for the male/female distribution in the military provided a midrange estimate of around 2,450 transgender personnel in the active component (out of a total number of approximately 1.3 million active-component service members) and 1,510 in the Selected Reserve.
The report indicates that just a small subset of these Service members -- estimates are between 29 and 129 in a given year -- "will seek transition-related care that could disrupt their ability to deploy." As for the cost of such care:
Using private health insurance claims data to estimate the cost of extending gender transition–related health care coverage to transgender personnel indicated that active-component health care costs would increase by between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually, representing a 0.04- to 0.13-percent increase in active-component health care expenditures.