Half the Country, Zero Hearings

Whoever in Kristen Gillibrand’s office came up with that hearing title deserves a RAAAAIISE!!!! </Oprah voice>

^{Senators Rick Scott (Republican — Florida) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat — New York) preside over “Half the Country, Zero Hearings: Meeting the Moment to End the Menopause Care Gap in America” on September 16, 2026 in Washington, D.C.}

^{Courtesy of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.}

Fantastic that this did happen, and with more bipartisanship: The Senate Special Committee on Aging is chaired by Rick Scott (R-FL).

What did we and, most importantly, our lawmakers learn?

• while it’s great that the black box warning on estrogen therapy has been removed, more research is needed for alternative treatment to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) (see: Millions of Women Are Left Out of Menopause’s Moment: Women who can’t take hormone therapy because of breast cancer or other diseases say they are deeply frustrated)

• women should not have to argue with their insurance companies about this important medical treatment; all states need to mandate coverage

  • wanna do something about that? —

    1. Has your US Senator co-sponsored this bill? Call them and thank them, or tell them to get with the program.

    2. How’s your state doing? If you’re in Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, or Washington, you’re in good shape (Louisiana!, good job!). Everywhere else: no mandated insurance coverage for menopause treatment. Including Mass! Our state legislators need to get with the program too. Here’s yet another state bill (H.2499, which would improve clinician training and assess menopause’s workforce impact) languishing at the state house. Tell them to pass it, and to mandate health insurance coverage.

• what is up with the estrogen patch shortage? (are you struggling with that? The Times had a good article on possible workarounds; my menopause doc suggested gel if I was having a hard time finding the patch (which I am, knock on wood, not, holla CVS Worcester!))

• doctors are having to counter influencer / supplement biz misinformation

• again, it’s more than uncomfortable symptom management—treating estrogen loss is preventative for bone loss and cardiovascular disease; please imagine for a moment ALL men being told, “That’s too bad about your hair loss, and in 10 years what causes that will also be responsible for increased risk of heart attack and brittle bones. Oh well!”

• the RAND Corporation estimates that menopause symptoms impacting earlier retirement ages or scaling back work hours for women creates losses of $5.4 billion annually

• less than 1% of federal women’s health research funding is allocated to menopause despite women in midlife comprising one third of the US population

• been there, done that: 80% of OB-GYN residents say they feel ill-prepared to discuss menopause which, again, results in women not getting care for disruptive current symptoms and losing preventative care for cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. (By the way, my sarcastic analogy to hair loss? one of the world’s oldest and most respected peer-reviewed medical journals, The British Medical Journal, published a meta-analysis in 2013 that concluded doctors should be screening for heart disease with balding patients. So for men, physical cosmetic symptom = suggested screening for heart disease = treatment is baked into their most common aging symptom. Women get a shoulder shrug)

  
  

So how about an ironic/wild coincidence:

Today, one year and 3 months after having my PCP shrug her shoulders at me bringing up hot flashes, joint aches, and decreasing shoulder mobility, I got a cortisone shot for frozen shoulder. It was much less of a big deal than just getting a lab blood draw, and I’m really kind of amazed at the idea of being able to lift my right arm over my head again. We’ll have to wait to see how it works. But how exciting to think about! And, the flip side, what would have happened with increasing immobility in my right arm? It would have just gotten weaker and weaker, with decreasing range, with every year that went by. It’s not okay to shrug off these symptoms.

PPS, hot flashes have pretty much gone away since being on estrogen and progesterone. So, imagine a world where I can be excited about sweata weatha! As is my New Englander birthright!!

^{Linda Richman does not appreciate lack of treatment for women in peri/menopause}

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Cited:

1. U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging — official hearing page — https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/half-the-country-zero-hearings-meeting-the-moment-to-end-the-menopause-care-gap-in-america

2. The 19th News — original reporting on the hearing — https://19thnews.org/2026/09/congress-hearing-menopause-gillibrand/

3. The New York Times — on women excluded from hormone therapy due to breast cancer/other conditions — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/well/menopause-hormone-therapy-breast-cancer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CVE.rMty.ps_XmtcgBQBm&smid=url-share

4. The New York Times — on the estrogen patch shortage and workarounds — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/well/live/estrogen-patches-shortage-menopause.html

5. Orleans Hub — additional hearing coverage — https://orleanshub.com/gillibrand-holds-first-ever-congressional-hearing-on-menopause/

6. PubMed / BMJ Open — the baldness/coronary heart disease meta-analysis — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23554099/

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