Tufts Health Plan Scores 100% on Disability Equality Index

This was its first time participating in the DEI

DEI 2018 logo

Tufts Health Plan was one of 145 businesses nationwide rated as "Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion" in the 2018 Disability Equality Index.

The DEI measures awareness and inclusion efforts across these criteria: organizational culture, leadership, accessibility, employment, community engagement, support services and supplier diversity. Tufts Health Plan goes beyond having ADA-compliant buildings; the company offers activities to increase awareness of and sensitivity to people with disabilities for our employees and our members. For example, the Parallel-Disability Advocates Business Resource Group (BRG) provides free eight-week American Sign Language classes for employees, hosts Lunch & Learns to raise cultural awareness around people with disabilities and caregivers of dependents with disabilities. Tufts Health Plan has signed the CEOs Against Stigma pledge and requires cultural competency training for all employees.

"This is a tremendous recognition for Tufts Health Plan and a testament to our strong commitment to diversity and inclusion – a core element of our mission, values and corporate strategy," says Juan Lopera, vice president of business diversity. "We are pleased to be the only local health plan to receive a 100% DEI score."

Lisa Stamm, chair of the Parallel Business Resource Group, accepted the award at the Disability:IN annual conference in Las Vegas, where Connecticut State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., a longtime disability-rights lawyer and advocate, honored Tufts Health Plan.

Plans are underway to enhance or improve Tufts Health Plan's services and to apply for the DEI award again in 2019. In effect, the DEI will become a multi-year benchmarking roadmap for maintaining a first-class workplace for people with disabilities and the colleagues who work with them.

Tufts Health Plan is a company that prioritizes inclusion of people with all kinds of disabilities. To earn this recognition shows that Tufts Health Plan embraces its role as a pacesetter in making our work and our workplace accessible.

The Disability Equality Index, a joint initiative between the Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities, scores each participating company on a scale from 0 to 100, with top scorers (80 and above) recognized as "Best Places To Work for Disability Inclusion."