Citigroup extends health coverage to live-in partners, LGBT employees

In a bid to take more inclusive employee policy, Citigroup Inc has taken the initiative to extend its health insurance coverage all domestic partners, including live-in partners and LGBT partners in India. However, there are several companies already offer similar policies to members of the LGBT community. Godrej Group, Accenture and IBM are some of the companies which already offer medical insurance to same-sex partners of their LGBTQ employees. Business sponsor of the Citi India Pride Network, Padmaja Chakravart, stated that the company is extending the medical insurance benefits to domestic partners of their employees that includes partners of the same sex or otherwise, who live together. While most companies in India do not offer insurance cover to unmarried or live-in partners of heterosexual employees. Citibank sets itself as an example. According to the experts, such coverage is not easy for a standalone customer since insurance companies ask for some kind of proof. However, if the coverage is part of a group insurance policy then the company takes the responsibility. Citigroup’s Pride Network was set up to create a more diverse organisation. The network organises open houses and gets all its employees together to generate awareness among many other things.