Federal workers challenge Trump’s ban on gender-affirming care coverage

In early 2020, the Trump administration implemented a policy that barred insurers from covering gender-affirming care for federal employees. This change, which was quietly issued through a carrier letter by the White House's Office of Personnel Management, expanded upon a previous prohibition that only applied to minors. The Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, filed a lawsuit against the administration, claiming that the policy violates anti-discrimination laws and has raised healthcare costs for thousands of federal workers. The lawsuit includes anonymous plaintiffs who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming, as well as a federal worker with a transgender child.

One of the plaintiffs, Gregory Goe, a State Department employee, has been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for eight years to treat gender dysphoria. However, due to the new policy, his Blue Cross Blue Shield plan has stopped covering his treatment, leaving him facing over $100,000 in out-of-pocket costs. Another plaintiff, Patrick Poe, a U.S. Postal Service employee, reported that his transgender daughter lost coverage for her gender-affirming care, which will force his family to deplete their savings to continue her treatment. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that around 40,000 transgender individuals are affected by this policy, with one-third being federal workers and another third being their dependents.