Feds Not Requiring Transgender-Inclusive Federal Employee Health Plans

BuzzFeed - The Office of Personnel Management "strongly encourages," but is not requiring, transition-related coverage to be included in insurance companies' proposals for 2016 federal employee health plans. "It's just straight-up discrimination," says a leading trans advocate. Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management on November 10, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Paul Morigi / Getty Images WASHINGTON — New federal employee health insurance coverage proposals for 2016 are "strongly encourage[d]" to include information about health services their plans cover for transgender people — but there is no requirement that transition-related coverage be included. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not made a decision yet on whether plans that exclude all transition-related care will continue to be offered, a spokesman for the agency told BuzzFeed News. The decision will be made in the fall, the spokesman said. Mara Keisling, the executive director