Trump administration<\/a> is facing a new legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs.<\/p>\nThe complaint, filed Thursday on the employees\u2019 behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in response to an August announcement from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that it would no longer cover \u201cchemical and surgical modification of an individual\u2019s sex traits through medical interventions\u201d in health insurance programs for federal employees and US Postal Service workers.<\/p>\n
The complaint argues that denying coverage of gender-affirming care is sex-based discrimination and asks the personnel office to rescind the policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy is not about cost or care \u2013 it is about driving transgender people and people with transgender spouses, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce,\u201d the Human Rights Campaign Foundation president, Kelley Robinson, said in a statement announcing the move.<\/p>\n
The complaint, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, includes testimonies from four current federal workers at the state department, health and human services and the postal service who would be directly affected by the elimination of coverage.<\/p>\n
For instance, the postal service employee has a daughter whose doctors recommended that she get puberty blockers and potentially hormone replacement therapy for her diagnosed gender dysphoria, which would not be covered under the new OPM policy, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
The complaint notes that the workers are making the claim on behalf of themselves and a \u201cclass of similarly situated federal employees\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has taken other steps to restrict care for transgender Americans, particularly minors. In December, the US Department of Health and Human Services released proposals that would block gender-affirming care to minors, including a policy that would bar Medicare and Medicaid dollars to hospitals that provide such care to children.<\/p>\n
Senior Trump officials, such as the health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, call gender-affirming care \u201cmalpractice\u201d for minors. But such restrictions go against recommendations from major medical groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#federal #employees #file #complaint #ban #genderaffirming #care #Trump #administration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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