Site last updated: 12/24/2024
Post date: Jun 07, 2015 11:48:51 PM
June 7, 2015
For Immediate Release:
Contact: info@tginetwork.org or call (401) 441-5058
RE: Mayor Elorza Announcing Transgender Inclusive Health Insurance Benefits for City Employees
TGI Network wishes to congratulate Mayor Elorza and the City of Providence on adding transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage to their employee health plans and to thank him for his leadership on this matter. We hope to see other public and private sector employers follow Mayor Elorza’s lead. This simple measure will have a great impact on the lives of trans and gender non-conforming city employees, retirees and their families.
Fully transgender-inclusive health insurance plans are necessary to meet the health care needs of transgender individuals. The plans remove burdensome financial barriers that prevent many transgender people from seeking the medically necessary care that they need. Access to transition-related care, improves the overall quality of life for transgender individuals by increasing confidence and reducing stress. Offering health insurance plans that include fully transgender-inclusive health insurance benefits affirms the City of Providence’s commitment to a talented and diverse workforce who are valued and treated equally.
There are an estimated 700,000 transgender individuals in the US and somewhere between 2,000-5,000 transgender people in Rhode Island alone. Very few transgender Rhode Islanders have access to health insurance that is fully inclusive of transgender medical needs, specifically medically necessary, transition related care. We call on all employers in the state to follow the lead of the City of Providence to contact their insurance companies and ask for transgender inclusive health insurance benefits to be added to their current plans. We also call on insurance companies to make available in the public market, health insurance plans that include this benefit.
TGI Network of Rhode Island is the only all-volunteer, statewide organization dedicated to providing support and advocacy for the TGI community in Rhode Island and surrounding areas. Our mission is to serve the needs of the transgender, gender-variant, and intersex (TGI) communities in Rhode Island and surrounding areas through support, advocacy, and education.
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