ENDING BENEFITS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANSGENDER-RELATED CARE The original intent of this criterion was not just to educate employers about these exclusions, but also to encourage employers to remove them. Through our conversations and educational efforts with participating employers, the HRC Foundation has helped spotlight these discriminatory insurance exclusions, and we have seen tremendous progress. Further cost data, model language and best practices for working with health insurance providers and administrators to remove these discriminatory exclusions will be shared in a report in fall 2009.
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Beginning in calendar year 2011, full credit will be given only to employers offering all benefits-eligible employees (and their dependents) at least one health insurance plan that: 1. Covers transgender-related treatment without exclusion and 2. Reflects the WPATH Standards of Care to determine treatment coverage. See “Rating System & Methodology” on page 6 for more information about the new criteria. In anticipation of the new criteria, the HRC Foundation has, for the second year, undertaken a more comprehensive review of insurance policies. While the HRC Foundation cannot attest that insurance coverage would ultimately be applied equally from business to business or among multiple insurance plans used by the same business, our review suggests that a number of businesses have taken significant and substantial steps to remove discrimination from at least one of their health insurance plans for employees and their dependents.
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businesses had insurance plans that indicated that most medically necessary treatments would be covered. These businesses are highlighted in the appendices with a “+” under column 2c.
Some of the first businesses to implement inclusive coverage placed a maximum financial amount of insurance coverage available to transgender-specific treatment over an individual’s lifetime. Of the 66 businesses that could document that most medically necessary treatments would be covered, only 12 reported a financial cap, ranging from $10,000 to $150,000, with most reporting more than $50,000. The HRC Foundation anticipates that businesses will eventually increase or eliminate these caps entirely.
www.hrc.org/cei
COR P ORATE E QUALITY I N D E X 2010
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