The Trump administration is facing a new legal complaint from federal employees challenging a policy set to take effect Thursday that would eliminate coverage for gender-related healthcare in federal employee health insurance plans.The complaint, filed Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of affected workers, targets an August announcement from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The declaration stated that federal health insurance plans for government employees and U.S. Postal Service workers would no longer cover what it described as the “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex characteristics through medical interventions.”
According to the complaint, denying coverage for gender-transition care constitutes sex-based discrimination. The filing asks the OPM to withdraw the policy and restore the benefits. Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson criticized the move, saying the decision is not about controlling costs or improving healthcare policy. Instead, she argued, the measure appears designed to push transgender people—and federal employees with transgender family members—out of government jobs.
The grievance, submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, includes statements from four current federal employees working at the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Postal Service who say they would be directly affected by the policy.One Postal Service employee cited in the complaint has a daughter diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Doctors have recommended puberty blockers and potentially hormone replacement therapy—treatments that would no longer be covered under the new policy. The workers say they are filing the complaint not only for themselves but also on behalf of a broader group of similarly affected federal employees.
The policy is part of a wider set of measures introduced by the Trump administration that seek to restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare, particularly for minors. In December, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed limiting such care for children by preventing hospitals from receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding if they provide gender-transition treatments to minors. These proposals have drawn criticism from major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which support gender-affirming care as a medically recognized treatment in certain cases.
