A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday is taking aim at the Trump administration’s policy to prohibit federal employees’ health insurance from covering gender-affirming care.

An anonymous group of transgender and gender-nonconforming federal workers argues that the rule banning coverage of “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions” for people enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs constitutes sex-based discrimination.

The complaint file in D.C. federal court says the five anonymous plaintiffs “are contemplating draining their savings, or are undertaking significant financial hardship” to pay for their care after the January rule change.

A State Department employee affected by the rule would have to pay $100,000 out of pocket for gender-affirming surgery, the complaint states. Another employee mentioned in the lawsuit, who works for the Department of Health and Human Services, is facing costs of $1,000 a year for hormone replacement therapy and about $6,000 for gender-affirming surgery without insurance coverage. An employee of the Postal Service is depleting his family’s savings to pay for his transgender daughter’s care, which is no longer covered under the federal employee’s plan, according to the complaint.

As a result of the financial burdens, the lawsuit argues, those affected by the rule “continue to suffer from severe gender dysphoria, related distress and anxiety, stigma, and the risk of discrimination, violence, and harassment by others.”

“This categorical denial of treatment for those who require continuing gender-affirming care is akin to denying continuing insulin treatment for someone with diabetes,” the complaint says.

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Julianne McShane

Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.