2011/12/15 by Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Conall O’Cleirigh, Chris Grasso +3 · 3 citations
Medicine · Psychology · #Cohabitation #Demography #Gerontology #HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions #Health care #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Law #Legalization #Medicine #Mental health #Natural experiment #Political science #Psychiatry #Psychology #Reproductive Health and Technologies #Sociology
paper · doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300382
openalex publication_date 2011/12/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether health care use and expenditures among gay and bisexual men were reduced following the enactment of same-sex marriage laws in Massachusetts in 2003. METHODS: We used quasi-experimental, prospective data from 1211 sexual minority male patients in a community-based health center in Massachusetts. RESULTS: In the 12 months after the legalization of same-sex marriage, sexual minority men had a statistically significant decrease in medical care visits (mean = 5.00 vs mean = 4.67; P = .05; Cohen's d = 0.17), mental health care visits (mean = 24.72 vs mean = 22.20; P = .03; Cohen's d = 0.35), and mental health care costs (mean = 2442.28 vs mean = 2137.38; P = .01; Cohen's d = 0.41), compared with the 12 months before the law change. These effects were not modified by partnership status, indicating that the health effect of same-sex marriage laws was similar for partnered and nonpartnered men. CONCLUSIONS: Policies that confer protections to same-sex couples may be effective in reducing health care use and costs among sexual minority men.