A group of government workers impacted by a new rule that goes into effect on Thursday that removes coverage for gender-affirming treatment in federal health insurance plans have filed a new lawsuit against the Trump administration.
OPM Policy Change
In August, OPM said that it would no longer provide coverage for “chemical and surgical change of an individual’s sex features via medical procedures.” Health insurance plans for US Postal Service personnel and government employees. On behalf of the workers, the Human Rights Campaign submitted the complaint on Thursday.
The lawsuit requests that the personnel office revoke the policy, claiming that refusing to cover gender-affirming treatment constitutes sex-based discrimination.
Human Rights Campaign Statement
In a statement announcing the change, Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, said, “This policy is not about cost or care — it is about forcing transgender individuals and those with transgender wives, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce.”
Four current federal employees of the state department, health and human services, and the postal service who would be directly impacted by the removal of coverage have testified in the complaint, which was submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Impact on Families
For example, according to the lawsuit, the postal service employee’s daughter was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and her physicians advised her to get puberty blockers and perhaps hormone replacement treatment, which would not be covered under the new OPM policy.
The employees are bringing the claim on behalf of a “class of similarly situated government employees,” according to the lawsuit.
Trump Administration Actions
In order to limit treatment for transgender Americans, especially children, the Trump administration has taken further actions. The US Department of Health and Human Services published plans in December that would prohibit hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatment to adolescents from receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Senior Trump officials, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, refer to providing gender-affirming therapy for adolescents as “malpractice.” However, important medical organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics advise against such limitations.
