Lindsey Dawson (she/her)

@lindseydawson.bsky.social

Director, LGBTQ Health Policy; Assoc. Director, HIV Policy @KFF.org Writing & thinking about health access & data related to #HIV and #LGBTQ+ health policy.

LGBT adults face problems with health care affordability. About half say it's difficult to afford these costs; half say they've skipped/postponed care due to cost. These challenges could grow as new policies are set to leave millions uninsured. www.kff.org/health-costs... w/@lunnalopes.bsky.social

Health Care Access and Financial Barriers Among LGBT People Amidst Looming Health Care Cuts | KFF

This brief reviews new data from the May 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll on LGBT adult’s experiences and concerns related to health care affordability. Overall, the findings show that LGBT adults face m...

kff.org

988 suicide & crisis line’s service for LGBTQ young people has fielded over 1M contacts—but the FY2026 budget request eliminates its funding. As usage rises, its future is uncertain. Our new brief explores the landscape and latest data: www.kff.org/mental-healt... w/ @heathersaunders.bsky.social

Growing Uncertainty About the Future of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQI+ Service | KFF

This brief reviews the latest data on the 988 LGBTQI+ service and explores its future, including recent uncertainties.

kff.org

Our new KFF brief examines the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative’s (EHE) activities & impact to date and what its future might look like under the 2nd Trump administration. kff.org/policy-watch... We also updated our EHE funding tracker (link below).

What Does the Future Hold for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative (EHE)? | KFF

This analysis examines what the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative has done to date and what its future might look like under the second Trump administration.

kff.org

Today we released a new piece that consolidates information on recent HIV related HHS staff reductions, office closures, & other restructuring initiatives. These actions come on top of NIH grant cuts & threats to CDC's prevention funding. w/ @jenkatesdc.bsky.social www.kff.org/policy-watch...

What Do Federal Staffing Cuts and HHS Restructuring Mean for the Nation’s HIV Response? | KFF

This policy watch examines the impact of federal staff cuts and HHS restructuring on the nation's HIV response.

kff.org

With CDC staff & programs cuts, the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) could be at risk. MMP is a rich data source on people w/ HIV & has been core to much of our HIV work for over a decade. Eliminating it would create a data gap. A thread highlighting some of our MMP based work:

Bild

President Trump’s Executive Order that aims to restrict youth access to gender affirming care doesn’t immediately change policies or regulations, but there’s significant confusion. Here’s a look at state responses and legal challenges filed by the @aclu.org and other groups⤵️

KFF graphic showing the key provisions of President Trump’s Executive Order on Gender Affirming Care:

Directs agency/department heads to take steps to prohibit those receiving certain federal research grants, (e.g. hospitals and medical schools), from proving gender affirming care to children. 

Directs the Secretary of HHS to take regulatory and sub-regulatory actions to end gender affirming care for children across a range of programs and limit explicit protections for such access. 

Directs the Secretary of Defense to “commence a rulemaking or sub-regulatory action” further restricting access to gender affirming care for children in TRICARE. 

Directs the Office of Personnel Management Director to limit access to care in coverage for federal employees’ families by including a provision in two federal health benefits programs requiring eligible carriers to exclude “coverage for pediatric transgender surgeries or hormone treatments.