The complaint targets a policy that would eliminate federal health insurance coverage for gender-affirming medical care.
Published January 1, 2026
A group of federal employees has filed a class action lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration over a new policy that would eliminate coverage of gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs.
The policy went into effect with the start of the new year, and on Thursday the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released a complaint on behalf of federal employees.
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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was named as a defendant.
OPM said in an August letter that starting in 2026, “chemical and surgical alterations of an individual’s sexual characteristics through medical intervention” will no longer be covered by health insurance programs for federal employees and U.S. postal workers.
OPM officials could not be reached for comment.
The complaint alleges that the policy is discriminatory on the basis of gender. It seeks to reverse the policy and seek economic damages and other relief.
If the matter is not resolved with OPM, the foundation said the plaintiffs may file a class action lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and continue the class action in federal court.
Separately, a group of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last month seeking to block a proposed rule that would cut off children’s access to gender-affirming care, the latest legal battle over the president’s efforts to eliminate legal protections for transgender people.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposed a rule that would bar hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children from Medicaid and Medicare and prevent them from being paid for by the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
