By Emmanuel Bobby
The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge from federal employees affected by a policy that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in government health insurance plans, a change that took effect Thursday.
The complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of affected workers by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations. It stems from an August announcement by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) stating that federal employee health insurance plans would no longer cover what the agency described as “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions.” The policy applies to health plans for federal employees as well as U.S. Postal Service workers.
In the filing, the employees argue that the removal of coverage amounts to unlawful sex-based discrimination under federal civil rights laws. The complaint asks OPM to reverse the policy and restore coverage for gender-affirming care, which has long been included in many federal health insurance plans.
“This policy is not about cost or care — it is about driving transgender people and people with transgender spouses, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, in a statement announcing the complaint.
The filing includes detailed testimonies from four current federal employees working at the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Postal Service. Each described how the policy would directly affect their families and medical decisions.
One of the employees, a Postal Service worker, has a daughter who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. According to the complaint, her doctors recommended puberty blockers and potentially hormone therapy as part of her treatment plan — care that would no longer be covered under the new OPM policy. The loss of coverage, the employee said, could place a significant financial burden on the family and interfere with medically recommended care.
The complaint makes clear that the four workers are filing not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of a broader “class of similarly situated federal employees” who could be affected by the policy nationwide. Advocates say the change could influence where transgender employees and their families choose to work, potentially shrinking the federal workforce by discouraging qualified workers from remaining in or joining government service.
The coverage rollback is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to gender-affirming care, particularly for minors. In December, the Department of Health and Human Services released proposed rules that would limit or block such care for children. One proposal would prohibit hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors from receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding.
Senior administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have sharply criticized gender-affirming care for minors, referring to it as “malpractice.” Supporters of the administration’s approach argue the government should not fund treatments they believe are controversial or insufficiently studied.
Medical experts and major professional organizations, however, strongly dispute that characterization. Groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support access to gender-affirming care, describing it as evidence-based and, in some cases, medically necessary for the well-being of transgender patients.
As the complaint moves forward, it adds to a growing number of legal and political battles over transgender health care, workplace rights, and the role of the federal government in regulating medical coverage. The outcome could have significant implications not only for federal employees, but also for how civil rights laws are applied to health insurance benefits across the government.
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