Hi Barbara,I greatly appreciate your speedy reply. I am well aware that all the companies listed reached 100 percent on the CEI. However, as many in the transgender community have pointed out, this simply means that to identify which ones are actually transgender-inclusive, one must look closer. This is what I would hope from an organization such as DiversityInc. I hope that you and the other editors at DiversityInc will seriously consider looking at companies with this level of detail in the coming years. I suspect that the folks at HRC Workplace might be able to provide some more information.I wrote because it matters when DiversityInc chooses to call attention to issues such as this. And it sends an unfortunate message when key transgender workplace issues are not on your radar screen. In my letter directly to DiversityInc (as opposed to the comment section) I made this additional point: "Would you consider giving a top 10 rating to a company which had transgender-inclusive insurance coverage but which didn't recognize same-sex partners for purposes of extending health benefits? No? I didn't think so. So why is it okay to leave off the "T" in three out of seven instances when it wouldn't enter your mind(s) to leave off the LG or B even for one out of 10?"Yes, I could have chosen a less "cranky" framing to make this same point. After all, I spent well over two decades of my adult life as an out lesbian, working on "LGBT" issues, yet paying little attention to transgender concerns. I know just how easy it is for non-transgender LGB folks to remain ignorant. But a few years ago my own transition brought me face-to-face with facts: for well over 30 years transgender people have been part of our movement. There is no time like the present to learn to be inclusive, and to step up to the plate. Perhaps I am irritable too because inclusive coverage is well within the reach of every single one of the companies that are listed as "Top 10": it would cost them nothing or next-to-nothing to "add" this defined benefit. Even HRC acknowledges that to be fully inclusive companies should score positively on all five benefits markers, including the surgical coverage, and gives a plus to those who do. I consult closely with employers and other entities who are working to change their benefits plans, and have seen numerous organizations eliminate this area of discrimination without cost to their plans. Plans with under a few thousand enrollees *might* incur a small premium increase, but any increase would be tiny and generally easily absorbed. In addition, utilization is usually very very low, such that any premium increase in the first year is likely to be erased over time as premiums are annually adjusted to reflect actual utilization.Ironically, both Aetna and Kaiser Permanente have written inclusive coverage for many companies, as have many of the Blues, Cigna, UHC and other carriers. What would it take for these insurance carriers to eliminate discriminatory exclusions with respect to their own employees? Surely it would send a powerful message if organizations like DiversityInc would announce that you will only include companies with fully inclusive coverage in your "Top 10". The question for now is what can DiversityInc do to raise awareness about the issue of insurance exclusions in the interim between now and next year's "Top 50" and "Top 10" announcements? Perhaps DiversityInc could announce that full transgender inclusion wil be a focus (and a must) in next year's scoring? Perhaps DiversityInc would run a feature story --or even a several part story-- on transgender-inclusive coverage, to help underscore the need for it and how companies can get it? Again, I appreciate your responsiveness, and look forward to upcoming issues of the Diversity newsletter. .

 Hello Andre,

We appreciate your interest in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees list. All of the companies on our list received a 100 percent rating in The Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which includes having transgender-inclusive insurance coverage for at least one type of benefit. However, 46 out of 260 companies surveyed by the HRC also offer full transgender-inclusive insurance coverage, including surgical procedures. As you correctly point out, some of the companies on our list do not do this year. We did not break it down to that level of detail but certainly will consider doing that next year.

Barbara Frankel
Senior Vice President, Executive Editor
DiversityInc
BFrankel@DiversityInc.com
www.DiversityIncBestPractices.com

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 It is wonderful to see so many corporations which seek to provide a welcoming work environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. However, it is truly a shame that of the top 10 companies listed as LGBT friendly, only seven have gone on record as providing fully transgender-inclusive health benefits. Three of the employers are providing health benefits which actually discriminate against transgender employees (and similarly fail to provide equitable health coverage for transgender dependents of employees). These are PricewaterHouseCoopers, Aetna, and Sodexo. I respectfully ask Diversity Inc to rethink the basis on which it gives out its accolades. I encourage you to update this article with one which lauds only corporations which truly welcome all of the L, G, B, and T. Alternatively, I would have to suggest that you leave the "T" out of your LGBT designation. For those readers who may doubt that these are medically necessary services, please provide links to statements from The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, and the American Federation of Teachers. These are among the growing number of organizations which have called for private and public health coverage of medically necessary transgender transition-related services, and for an end to discriminatory exclusions. For those who think that being transsexual or undergoing medically-assisted transgender transition is a choice, please take some time out of your schedule to talk to a person who has undergone a transgender transition. Ask them what life was like before, and after. Consider too that millions of dollars a year are spent for health care resulting from what actually are often "choices." To name a few: pregnancy and childbirth, interventions for cancers related to nicotine intake, repair of broken limbs or other injuries from recreational sports such as skiing, mountainbiking, roller-blading,or basketball. The Human Rights Campaign CEI website lists 49 companies which offer transgender inclusive health coverage. Numerous additional employers are known to provide such coverage, including some of our major public research institutions (the University of California and University of Michigan). Their experience has shown that inclusive coverage is cost-effective, not expensive. Most large employers are now able to include such coverage at virtually no additional cost to premiums. HRC has an extra plus designation for companies with inclusive coverage, making it clear that truly inclusive workplaces do ensure that there are no exclusions in their health plans. The HRC does not yet penalize companies for not providing fully inclusive coverage, but their Workplace Project is actively working with companies to eliminate exclusions and those that do not will be unable to earn the 100% rating in the 2011 survey. Sadly, the recent top 10 for employees with disabilities is even worse. In that list only four companies provide transgender-inclusive benefits. This is particularly ironic since in many states the excluded diagnosis "Gender Identity Disorder" would be covered under the state disability statute! Imagine: What we would think of an employer's insurance policy which explicitly excluded care for all services "related to" sickle cell anemia? What would we have to say about a comprehensive plan which covered all sorts of cancer treatments but excluded procedures and services related to ovarian, vaginal, or uterine cancers? I've listed below the awarded companies which do offer transgender-inclusive coverage, and those which instead have discriminatory exclusions in their insurance plans, according to the HRC CEI. (Those without coverage for transgender transition-related surgical services are in parentheses.)** Again, I urge Diversity Inc to take steps to ensure that your coverage includes transgender people and our concerns. Isn't it about time? In Unity, Andre Wilson Top 10 Disabilities: IBM, Ernst & Young, Cisco Systems, (Proctor & Gamble), (Kaiser Permanente), (SC Johnson), (Aetna), (Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide), (Sodexo), KPMG Top 10 LGBT: Ernst & Young, Wells Fargo & Co, (PricewaterhouseCoopers), IBM Corp, (Aetna), KPMG, (Sodexo), AT&T, Cisco Systems, Johnson & Johnson. ** Hopefully, some of these companies are actively seeking to change this situation and will begin to offer inclusive coverage in the 2010 plan year.

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Diversity is our strength and I know first hand that it makes us better employees when we are considered equal. We will work harder. We will be grateful. We will speak volumes about our company to all our friends and family.Thank you for this information. .

Diversity is our strength and I know first hand that it makes us better employees when we are considered equal. We will work harder. We will be grateful. We will speak volumes about our company to all our friends and family.Thank you for this information. .