Section 1557 and why it matters to insurers
A new rule which will require most insurance companies to provide coverage for gender reassignment has been finalized. It comes days after a case against a health insurer was dismissed.
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Sector 1557 means that individuals are protected from discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability and sex, including discrimination based on pregnancy, gender identity and sex stereotyping.
The
Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities final rule implements Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which is the first federal civil rights law to broadly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded health programs.
“A central goal of the Affordable Care Act is to help all Americans access quality, affordable health care. Today’s announcement is a key step toward realizing equity within our health care system and reaffirms this Administration's commitment to giving every American access to the health care they deserve," said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.
Further details of the provisions of the rule is available
from the HHS.
Global insurer pays tribute to employees
French-based global insurer
AXA says that its “most precious resource” is its employees. In its annual Social Data Report, it highlights its 166,000 employees across all continents and provides insight to their diversity.
Fourteen per cent of AXA’s workforce are in the Americas totaling 22,118 people including 17,132 salaried employees and 4,986 exclusive distributors. Their average age is 40.6 years and average length of service is 10.8 years.
More than half of the global salaried workforce (52.7 per cent) is women although at executive level this drops to 27.7 per cent. Women make up 41.8 per cent of managers and 57.2 per cent of ‘experts and staff’. In the Americas, women make up 53.3 per cent of the salaried workforce but there is no breakdown provided by level of seniority.
Speaking specifically about AXA’s US business unit, human resources manager Rino Piazzolla said the firm is “confident that we can attract, develop and retain the best talents” in order to achieve its aim to recruit for future skills and ensure a culture of learning. Those are the insurer’s key targets for 2020.
Insurers blamed for cancelled comedy sketch
The decision to drop a sketch about free speech from a Canadian comedy gala has been blamed on an insurance company. Comedian Guy Nantel says that insurers insisted that his joke was rewritten in order to be included in Radio-Canada’s broadcast of Quebec’s
Le Gala les Oliviers.
Nantel is currently under investigation by Quebec Human Rights Commission over a previous matter and the Commission was one of the groups mentioned in the sketch. The comedian says that insurer, who has not been named, said they believed the broadcaster would be sued if the routine was used.
Radio-Canada said that due to the legal process with the human rights commission the decision not to broadcast the sketch was taken. "As long as the content has not been insured, Radio-Canada cannot allow the sketch to be broadcast,” it’s statement said.
