Employers are the largest source of health coverage in the U.S. So what does that mean for transgender workers accessing healthcare?

Answer: 72%

Questions:

• Were you surprised by that percentage? Why or why not?
• When choosing a job, how important are the employer’s health insurance benefits to you? Why?
• Over last 20 years, more companies have started offering comprehensive health insurance that is trans-inclusive. What do you think is the impact of that?

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (HRC)

"Over the CEI’s 20-year history, the most notable advancement is the widespread implementation of inclusive practices that affirm all employees, including transgender employees. These initiatives take a holistic approach to workplace inclusion and extend beyond healthcare benefits to encompass policies and practices that support transgender employees.

A full 93 percent of the Fortune 500 – including both companies that submit the CEI survey and those that do not — have gender identity protections enumerated in their nondiscrimination policies (up from 3 percent in 2002). Notably, 97 percent of the entire CEI universe of businesses offer explicit gender identity non-discrimination protections (up from 5 percent in 2002).

72 percent of the Fortune 500 and 91 percent of all CEI-rated businesses (1321 of 1450 offer comprehensive health insurance coverage for all employees, including transgender employees, up from 0 percent in 2002 – 28 times as many businesses as in 2009."

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.

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