(Newark, NJ, April 8, 2019) – Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) announced today that it received a perfect score of 100 on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. Horizon is among about 570 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

“Horizon is proud to have created and cultivated an inclusive workplace that has earned the company the recognition as a best place to work for LGBTQ Equality,” said Alison Banks-Moore, Chief Diversity Officer for Horizon BCBSNJ. “Horizon maintains a culture in which we vigilantly protect the rights and dignity of all our workers, so we are thrilled to be recognized for our equality-driven policies and practices,” she said.

“The top-scoring companies on this year’s CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their global operations and impacting millions of people beyond our shores,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the more than 170 that have joined HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. Time and again, leading American businesses have shown that protecting their employees and customers from discrimination isn’t just the right thing to do -- it’s also good for business.”

The 2019 CEI evaluates LGBTQ-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBTQ community. Horizon’s efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria results in a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

For more information on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index, visit www.hrc.org/cei.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.