A coalition of federal employees has initiated legal proceedings against the Trump administration, challenging its decision to exclude gender-affirming medical care from federal health insurance coverage.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) filed the complaint on Thursday, claiming that the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) policy “discriminates based on sex.” The complaint highlights the policy’s implications for federal health insurance programs.

According to the class-action lawsuit, OPM announced in August that starting in 2026, procedures involving “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions, including ‘gender transition’ services,” would no longer be covered by the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) or Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) programs. This policy aligns with the Trump administration’s broader efforts to limit or ban access to gender-affirming care.

With the PSHB 2026 plan already in effect as of Thursday and the FEHB plan set to commence on January 11, the elimination of such coverage will immediately affect federal employees and their families. The HRCF criticized this policy shift as a continuation of what they describe as the Trump administration’s persistent targeting of transgender individuals.

The complaint represents several federal employees, including a State Department employee enrolled in an FEHB plan who is planning to undergo treatment for gender dysphoria, and a Postal Service worker whose daughter requires puberty blockers, relying on the parent’s PSHB coverage for the treatment. The HRCF argues that these changes will have detrimental impacts on affected families.

To the federal employees, the loss of coverage is not just a policy change, but a direct attack on transgender people.

“Starting today, 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,” said Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson on Thursday. “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.”

“These federal employees will now be forced into an impossible situation that pits them between their jobs and access to the care they need,” Robinson added. “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 Department of Justice declined to comment when reached by Law&Crime.

The federal workers seek relief in many forms, including the rescission of the OPM’s policy, a declaratory judgment that states that the coverage exclusion violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act — which prohibits discrimination based on sex, retroactive coverage for care denied under the new policy, a permanent injunction barring OPM from “any enforcement of the categorical coverage exclusion of gender-affirming medical care,” and training initiated by OPM regarding equal employment opportunity laws.

If the complaint is not resolved with OPM, the complainants will seek class claims before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and possibly pursue a class action lawsuit in federal court, Reuters reported.