Administration's "cruel" & "illegal" policy ends gender-affirming care for all federal employees
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/administrations-cruel-illegal-policy-ends-gender-affirming-care-for-all-federal-employees/Daniel Villarreal (21 Aug 2025)
The presidential administration has quietly ended federal employees' insurance coverage for gender-affirming care. An LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organization called the policy "not only cruel, [but] illegal."
A letter sent last Friday from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Healthcare and Insurance to insurance companies said that the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Programs will no longer cover "gender transition" services for people of all ages starting in 2026. The letter says that insurance companies can develop an exemption process for patients currently receiving gender-affirming care "on a case-by-case basis," though it doesn't specify how.
The letter also directs insurance companies not to "list or otherwise recognize" providers of gender-affirming care in directories of medical professionals and clinics covered by insurance, Them reported.
Lambda Legal pledged to explore all options to respond to the discriminatory policy and asked federal employees harmed by the policy to contact their organization.
Gender-affirming care is supported by all major medical associations in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as safe and life-saving for young people with gender dysphoria.
