A group of US federal government workers has launched a formal legal challenge against the Trump administration over a new policy that strips insurance coverage for gender-affirming medical care. The complaint, filed on Thursday 8 December, argues the move constitutes unlawful sex-based discrimination.
Legal Challenge Against Federal Policy
The action was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of the employees. It directly challenges a directive from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced in August. That directive stated that federal health insurance programmes for government staff and US Postal Service workers would no longer cover "chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions".
The complaint demands that OPM rescind the policy, which took effect on the same Thursday the complaint was lodged. Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, condemned the policy in a statement, asserting, "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."
Personal Impact on Federal Workers
The legal filing includes testimonies from four current federal employees whose families will be directly affected. They are bringing the claim for themselves and a wider class of similarly situated colleagues.
One poignant example cited is a US Postal Service worker whose daughter has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Her doctors have recommended puberty blockers and potentially hormone replacement therapy. Under the new OPM rules, this essential, doctor-recommended care would no longer be covered by the family's federal health insurance plan.
Broader Context of Transgender Healthcare Restrictions
This policy is part of a wider pattern of actions by the Trump administration to restrict access to gender-affirming care, particularly for young people. In December, the US Department of Health and Human Services proposed rules that would block such care for minors. One proposal would bar Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals providing this care to children.
Senior officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, have labelled gender-affirming care for minors as "malpractice". However, these political positions starkly contradict the established guidance of leading medical bodies in the United States, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which support access to such care.
The complaint represents a significant pushback from within the government itself, as employees fight to maintain healthcare coverage for transgender Americans and their families.
