Congressional appropriators won’t codify Trump’s ban on gender-affirming care for feds after all

Lawmakers in Congress appear to have abandoned a plan to bar insurers participating in the federal government’s employer-sponsored health care program from covering gender affirming care for federal workers and their family members, though the development changes little, practically speaking.

When the House first unveiled its draft of the fiscal 2026 Financial Services and General Government appropriations package last September, it included language barring federal funds being used to cover the cost of “surgical procedures or puberty blockers or hormone therapy” as part of gender affirming care under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

But a new version of the bill unveiled Sunday, negotiated with Senate appropriators and containing three of the 12 traditional appropriations packages, strikes that language, issuing no prohibition on gender-affirming care for FEHBP participants.

Despite the recent reversal, the measure, if passed, on its own would not restore access to gender affirming care for federal workers and their families. That’s because the Office of Personnel Management last year instructed insurance carriers who participate in FEHBP to cease covering those treatments.

Last spring, OPM initially instructed insurance companies to merely restrict gender affirming care for those 19 years old and younger. But in August, the HR agency filed an addendum to its annual letter to carriers banning treatments associated with gender transitions altogether.

The ban went into effect at the start of this year, with exceptions for enrollees who are “mid-treatment,” as well as mental health and “faith-based” counseling. Hormone treatments unrelated to gender-affirming care also continue to be covered.