The Trump administration is facing a legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect this week. The policy eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs.
The legal challenge was filed by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the USA’s leading LGBTIQA+ rights groups.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation said they initiated the litigation against the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on behalf of federal employees and their families.
The class action suite comes after the administration directed insurance providers to deny coverage for gender affirming care under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) plans.
In a statement the group said as a result of the administration’s action federal employees and their dependents would lose their insurance coverage for vital healthcare, potentially placing care out of reach for many people solely because of who they are.
“Transgender people continue to face numerous barriers to access best-practice, potentially life-saving medical care, and this move represents just the latest attack from a Trump administration obsessed with undermining the rights and freedoms of transgender people.” they said.
“Untold numbers of federal employees and their families will be left out to dry at the hands of a shameless administration hell-bent on targeting the transgender community. 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 Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson.
“These federal employees will now be forced into an impossible situation that pits them between their jobs and access to the care they need. That is discrimination, plain and simple, and the HRC Foundation refuses to let it stand without a fight. Our litigation seeks to honor those federal workers and preserve the rights, respect, and dignity they deserve.”
The Human Rights Campaign noted that while the Trump administration has been introducing a wide range of measures designed to block access to gender affirming care, the approach was backed by major health bodies.
The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association. Research has consistently found that the receipt of gender-affirming care can significantly improve the lives of people who receive it.
