It’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t celebrate Pride Month across Canadian workplaces. June is an opportunity to acknowledge LGBTQ+ employees, leaders, industry partners and suppliers. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a chance to recognize the value that members of the community deliver as skilled professionals, colleagues and friends. It’s also an opportunity to make a collective declaration: ‘We embrace you as a part of our team and we appreciate you for being who you are.’ Of course, it wasn’t always that way. Not long ago the LGBTQ+ community was actively discriminated against in workplaces across the country—in particular when it came to obtaining insurance and group benefits coverage.
People hid their sexuality and gender identities in organizations small and large, faced humiliating treatment and outright hostility, and were held back in their careers simply for being themselves. Some were terminated once their sexuality became known—others quit and sought workplace acceptance elsewhere, even if they never found it. Denying benefits to same-sex partners was commonplace.
Unfortunately, some of this discriminatory and unwelcoming behaviour continues to this day. But significant progress has been made among North American companies—even if it’s been far too long in coming.
Steps toward equality
According to a 2021 survey of 233 U.S. Fortune 500 companies by the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign—an advocacy organization for the LGBTQ+ community—96 per cent said they have non-discrimination policies in place that cover sexual orientation, 94 per cent specifically call out gender discrimination in their non-discrimination policies and 57 per cent offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples.
Beyond being an overdue recognition of basic human rights and dignity, employers are also increasingly understanding that extending full rights and benefits to their LGBTQ+ employees is an essential aspect of caring for their entire team’s mental health and wellness. Acknowledging a long-dismissed community and continuously working to customize and bolster workplace support for LGBTQ+ employees helps improve diversity and inclusion efforts, while also enhancing productivity, engagement and reducing turnover rates.
Doing so also delivers a clear business benefit by helping organizations position as an employer of choice—a factor that could provide progressive organizations with a human capital advantage in the post-COVID-19 era, as companies (particularly in high-growth industries) grapple with labour shortages and battle to attract and retain top talent.
LGBTQ+-friendly benefit options
What does it mean to build and maintain a psychologically safe and healthy workplace for members of the LGBTQ+ community? It starts by recognizing some very specific needs, along with the full spectrum of support that your organization can provide.
As our Client Service Coordinator Jessica Thompson notes: “We’re not only seeing organizations embrace the unique needs of their LGBTQ+ employees, they’re actively seeking to enhance their insurance and group benefits offerings to provide an inclusive workplace experience.”
Now, they have more options than ever.
For example, Windsor, Ont.-based benefits carrier Green Shield Canada—a Bridgewell partner—recently announced that effective June 30, 2021, it would be including a gender affirmation offering as a standard benefit in all of its group plans that provide extended health care coverage.
Green Shield’s gender affirmation offering will cover a portion of the cost (subject to lifetime maximums) of core surgeries ‘not covered by provincial or territorial coverage and services that assist in the physical alignment of the individual’s transitioned gender.’ That could include everything from vocal surgery and facial feminization to laser hair removal. In addition, the plan will cover a portion of the cost of surgical enhancement or transplants that align with the plan member’s accepted gender ideal.
Other providers are offering similar coverage. What’s most remarkable (yet encouraging) is that this level of coverage is being offered by benefits carriers at all. Having a benefits provider support a plan member through their gender transition journey would have been unheard of only a handful of years ago.
Insurance for HIV-positive individuals
Positive changes aren’t limited to the group benefits sector. We recently secured life insurance coverage for an HIV-positive client in Ontario.
As is widely known, the disease ravaged LGBTQ+ communities around the world throughout the 1980s and 1990s. But advancements in HIV therapy drugs, increased awareness and safe-sex education have helped not only to curb transmission rates, but have allowed an ever-growing number of HIV-positive patients—in many cases LGBTQ+ people who contracted the disease decades ago—live long and prosperous lives.
While many insurers were quick to deny coverage to any individual that was HIV positive, we’ve seen a steady update of underwriting standards that better reflect medical innovations and remove stigmas that once unfairly targeted (and financially impacted) mostly LGBTQ+ people.
All of this bodes well for a future of improved inclusion, lowered barriers to acceptance and the flourishing of workplaces that empower every employee to thrive and bring their true selves to the office. This Pride Month we can celebrate those successes, yet still be mindful of the work that remains to be done.
The Bridgewell Team
Contact a member of the Bridgewell team now to develop a customized group benefits program or discuss your insurance planning needs.
