Princeton University has announced that it will extend employee health care coverage to include gender reassignment surgery effective July 1, the Daily Princetonian reported on Sunday.
According to The Daily Princetonian, the decision was made on April 17 and partly in response to changes in coverage policy at many peer universities. Yale Health announced in April that gender reassignment surgery coverage would be extended to Yalies, joining Harvard, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania. The extended insurance — which was granted to faculty and staff in 2011 and to unionized workers in January — will go into effect at Yale on August 1.
“While I applaud Princeton’s decision to extend coverage to transgender employees in this manner, it is a shame that the same inclusion has not been extended to students,” Princeton Pride Alliance co-president John Parvin told the News. “Princeton is lagging behind many of its peer institutions despite having one of the largest university endowments and despite supposedly advocating for the welfare and inclusion of all its students.”
Parvin added that he believes Princeton has been looking to its peer institutions, including Yale, in deciding whether to extend this coverage.