Dive Brief:
- Pittsburgh's medical benefits now cover sex reassignment surgery, reports the Tribune-Review. Coverage also extends to city employees' dependents.
- Pittsburgh will spend an estimated $65 million on all healthcare benefits for its 3,300 employees and dependents, according to the newspaper. Mayor Bill Peduto's office said the impact of adding the surgery will be minimal because few city employees are likely to use the benefit.
- The mayor said the new coverage will help the city attract good talent, according to the Tribune-Review.
Dive Insight:
While the courts debate whether LGBTQ employees are protected by federal law, Pittsburgh has been an early-adopter of those rights, prohibiting discrimination by all employers in the city and refusing to accept the Trump administration's roll back of protections for transgender students.
Pittsburgh, however, certainly isn't alone is its offering. Other cities and employers have made the same move and gone further. Chicago and San Francisco, for example, offer career development and coaching for transgender employees and gender-noncomforming individuals.
And according to a recent report, Pittsburgh's mayor may very well be correct that the benefits will help the city attract (and retain) top talent. A CareerBuilder study found many LGBT employees face bullying at work, and of those that do, 41% have quit their jobs because of it.