Gender-affirming care in Maine
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- Care for adults
- Allowed
- Care for people under 18
- Allowed
- MaineCare pays for hormones
- Covered
- MaineCare pays for surgery
- Covered
- Private plans must cover care
- Yes, by law
Gender-affirming care is legal and protected in Maine for adults and for minors with parental consent. MaineCare (Medicaid) covers hormone therapy and, with prior authorization, surgery; state-regulated private plans may not exclude transition care; and a 2024 shield law protects patients and providers from other states' bans. Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England offer hormone therapy from age 16 with sliding fees.
Draft from official sources, September 24, 2026. Not yet checked by a person. How we verify
On this page
Community health centers near you
These federally funded centers must see you whether or not you have insurance, and charge based on income. Many, but not all, prescribe hormone therapy. Call and ask for "gender-affirming care" or "hormone therapy."
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- Loading health centers
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Hormones by telehealth
These services prescribe hormones through video visits for people in this state. Point of Pride pays for a year and a half of care with several of them each spring.
Plume
Trans-led telehealth service providing informed-consent hormone therapy, lab orders, prescriptions, and letters for surgery and documents, by app and video visit. Self-pay only since January 2026. A Point of Pride HRT Access Fund partner.
About $99 per month ($90 in NY and NJ), which includes visits, messaging, prescriptions, and document letters. Labs and medications are billed separately and are often cheap with GoodRx or at a community pharmacy. Free for 18 months if you win a Point of Pride HRT Access Fund grant.
Planned Parenthood
Many Planned Parenthood affiliates provide informed-consent gender-affirming hormone therapy alongside sexual and reproductive health care, on a sliding scale and with Medicaid. Most affiliates see adults 18 and older; a few see 16- and 17-year-olds with parental consent and a readiness letter. Many start hormone care by telehealth. Self-pay initial consults typically run about $120 to $250 before sliding-scale discounts.
Clinics, programs, and funds
Maine Family Planning, gender clinics[8]
Hormone therapy and monitoring for trans people 16 and older, on-site self-injection lessons, referrals, STI testing, and wellness care. Providers in Ellsworth, Farmington, Lewiston, Norway, Belfast, Thomaston, and Bangor, with telehealth to sites closer to home. Accepts MaineCare, Medicare, and private insurance; sliding fee scale for gender-affirming care if uninsured. Call 207-922-3222.
Serves: Statewide, especially central, western, and eastern Maine
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (Maine health centers)[9][10]
Gender-affirming hormone therapy at Maine health centers (Portland, Biddeford, Sanford, Topsham) and a virtual health center, for people 16 and older; 16- and 17-year-olds need parental consent. Also PrEP and PEP, STI testing, and payment plans.
MaineCare application (DHHS Office for Family Independence)[5]
Apply for MaineCare online through My Maine Connection or at a DHHS office. MaineCare covers hormone therapy and, with prior authorization, gender-affirming surgery.
PrEP207[11]
Network of Maine community organizations and providers that helps people get PrEP and PEP, with free navigators; call or text 207-553-PREP. Coordinated from the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland.
HRSA Find a Health Center[12]
Federal locator for community health centers, which must serve everyone on a sliding fee scale regardless of ability to pay.
Point of Pride funds[13]
National funds for people who cannot afford care, including the HRT Access Fund (free telehealth hormone therapy; applications each May) and surgery, electrolysis, and binder programs.
Genderbands grants[14]
Small grants for surgery and other transition costs, including hormones and name change fees; 18 and older.
Trans Health Project (Advocates for Trans Equality)[15]
Free templates and guides for appealing insurance denials of gender-affirming care, including employer self-funded plans.
Paying for care
Medicaid (MaineCare)[4][5][8]
The MaineCare Benefits Manual reimburses providers for covered services "to treat a member with gender dysphoria" (Ch. II § 90.04-33, Transgender Services). Surgery requires prior authorization and letters from two qualified Maine-licensed health professionals who assessed you independently; medical necessity may be judged using WPATH Standards of Care (§ 90.05-1(A)(4)).
Maine expanded Medicaid, so adults with income up to about 138% of the federal poverty level can qualify. Apply online at My Maine Connection, by phone, or at a DHHS Office for Family Independence office. Maine Family Planning can also enroll uninsured people in MaineCare's limited family planning benefit, but that benefit does not cover gender-affirming care or hormones.
Private insurance[3][6][7]
Maine's Health Plan Improvement Act (24-A M.R.S. § 4320-L, since 2019) bars state-regulated health plans from categorical exclusions of "all health services related to gender transition," from denying sex-specific care to trans people, and from other discriminatory limits on transition care. Plans may still decide medical necessity case by case. If your plan denies care, appeal with the plan first, then file a complaint with the Maine Bureau of Insurance. Self-funded employer plans are federally regulated and may not be covered; the Trans Health Project has appeal templates.
CoverME.gov is Maine's health insurance marketplace, where you can compare plans and get help paying premiums.
The rules in detail
Rules for adultsNo state restriction. Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England both prescribe hormones and teach self-injection, and…
No state restriction. Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England both prescribe hormones and teach self-injection, and telehealth prescribing is legal statewide.
If you have no insurance and little money, in rough order of what to try:
- Apply for MaineCare (Medicaid). It covers hormone therapy and related care; see below.
- Call Maine Family Planning (207-922-3222). It has a sliding fee scale for gender-affirming care for people without insurance and serves much of the state through its clinics and telehealth.
- Planned Parenthood of Northern New England offers hormone therapy at its Maine health centers (Portland, Biddeford, Sanford, Topsham) and by telehealth; payment plans are available.
- A community health center (federally qualified health center) charges on a sliding scale. Find one at findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov.
- Point of Pride's HRT Access Fund pays for telehealth hormone care for a year and a half (applications open each May).
Rules for under 18Legal. Maine has no ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Legal. Maine has no ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Its shield law (14 M.R.S. ch. 763, enacted 2024) declares access to gender-affirming care a legal right in Maine and treats other states' attempts to punish people for care lawfully provided in Maine as against public policy. Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England offer hormone therapy from age 16; PPNNE requires parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds. For a minor's birth certificate change, a licensed provider must sign a declaration (see the birth certificate guide).
[1][2][8][9]Laws and court cases3 laws
- 14 M.R.S. ch. 763, § 9001 et seq. (LD 227, PL 2023 c. 648): Legally protected health care activity (shield law for gender-affirming and reproductive care), signed April 22, 2024
- 24-A M.R.S. § 4320-L: Health plan nondiscrimination, including a ban on categorical exclusions of gender transition care
- 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 101, Ch. II § 90 (MaineCare Benefits Manual, Physician Services): Transgender Services (90.04-33) and gender dysphoria related surgery prior authorization (90.05-1(A)(4))
Sources
15 sources. Numbers in the text, like [1], point here.Show all
- 14 M.R.S. § 9001, Legislative findings and declaration of policy
“Access to gender-affirming health care services and reproductive health care services in this State, as authorized under the laws of this State, is a legal right”
- LD 227 (131st Legislature), An Act Regarding Legally Protected Health Care Activity in the State
“Signed by the Governor. Chapter 648. Public Law. Date 4/22/2024”
- 24-A M.R.S. § 4320-L, Nondiscrimination
“A carrier may not ... Have or implement a categorical coverage exclusion or limitation for all health services related to gender transition”
- MaineCare Benefits Manual, Chapter II, Section 90, Physician Services
“Physicians and rendering providers will be reimbursed for providing MaineCare covered services to treat a member with gender dysphoria ... Coverage for surgical services related to gender dysphoria will require a prior authorization”
- Health Care Assistance (MaineCare)
- Life/Health Complaint Form
- CoverME.gov
- Gender-Affirming Healthcare
“Hormonal transition therapy & monitoring for trans people 16 years old & over ... For gender-affirming healthcare services, we do have a sliding fee scale based on household income for people without insurance”
- Hormone Therapy and Gender-Affirming Care in Portland, ME
“At our health centers in Maine, GAHT is offered to people 16 years of age and older. 16 and 17-year-olds will need parental consent.”
- Planned Parenthood health centers in Maine
- PrEP207
“PrEP207 is a collection of community-based organizations and service providers dedicated to helping patients get access to PrEP, PEP, and other crucial HIV services in Maine.”
- Find a Health Center
- HRT Access Fund
- Genderbands
- Trans Health Project