Stat – Starting next year, insurance companies providing coverage to federal employees will be prohibited from paying for gender-affirming care for trans people of any age, according to a letter sent to carriers on Friday from the Office of Personnel Management. It’s the latest in a torrent of decisions by the Trump administration that restrict gender-affirming care for trans people across the country.
There are nearly 14,000 trans federal employees in the U.S. according to the Williams Institute. The directive, which will likely be challenged in court, will also affect any trans family members of federal workers also covered by a federal plan, including Postal Service employees.
The letter specifically calls out gender-affirming hormones and surgery, clarifying that counseling services for gender dysphoria should still be covered, including controversial “faith-based counseling,” which can resemble conversion therapy. (The letter says the therapy must come from a licensed medical provider, but there’s some critical context needed here: This fall, the Supreme Court will hear a case in which a licensed therapist in Colorado is challenging the state’s law prohibiting licensed mental health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy, arguing that she should be allowed to do so based on her religious beliefs.)
