Your Health. Your Coverage. Finally, the Law Agrees.

May 2026  |  Women's Health Policy

Something remarkable has been happening in statehouses across the country. For generations, menopause care was treated as optional, elective, or simply not covered. Women paid out of pocket for hormone therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy, bone health treatments, and specialist visits, or they went without. That is beginning to change, state by state, law by law.

A National Movement Taking Shape

Throughout 2025, an unprecedented 19 states introduced more than three dozen bills to improve menopause care and treatment, and eight of those bills became law.¹ The momentum behind these bills reflects decades of advocacy finally reaching critical mass.

Four states now mandate insurance coverage for menopause treatments: Illinois and Louisiana for all patients, and Oregon and Washington for some. A fifth state, New Jersey, joined their ranks in January 2026.¹

The policy momentum reflects what science has long confirmed. Menopause is associated with systemic physiological changes that can affect sleep, emotional stability, bone density, metabolism, and cardiovascular risk.² Yet the majority of women experiencing significant symptoms still do not receive treatment, often because their concerns are minimized or they lack access to knowledgeable providers.²

New Jersey Sets the Standard

On January 9, 2026, Governor Murphy signed the New Jersey Menopause Coverage Act into law, requiring health insurance carriers to cover medically necessary treatment for perimenopause, menopause, and associated symptoms. Coverage includes hormonal therapies, non-hormonal treatments, behavioral health care, pelvic floor physical therapy, bone health treatments, preventive services, and counseling.³

This is comprehensive. This is what women have been asking for. Assemblywoman Simmons, one of the bill's sponsors, captured it plainly: for too long, menopause has been treated as a private burden rather than a public health issue.³

The economic case is just as clear. The Mayo Clinic estimates that menopause-related symptoms result in $1.8 billion in lost productivity annually across the United States.³ Covering treatment is not only equitable. It is economically sound.

Why This Matters Beyond One State

More than half of all states have now introduced at least one piece of menopause-related legislation in recent years, and nearly 20 new state bills have been introduced in just the first months of 2026.⁴ Policymakers are finally recognizing what women have known all along: menopause is not a lifestyle inconvenience. It is a significant health transition that deserves real medical attention and real insurance coverage.

Rhode Island has also passed workplace protections ensuring that employees cannot be discriminated against on the basis of menopause, and the city of Philadelphia passed a similar ordinance.¹ The conversation is expanding from the doctor's office to the workplace, because menopause does not stop when a woman clocks in.

Starting in 2026, new federal guidelines under the Affordable Care Act will also require health plans to cover additional women's preventive services at no cost, including expanded breast cancer screening with follow-up imaging, intimate partner violence intervention services, and personalized navigation support for breast and cervical cancer screenings.⁵

What You Can Do

Find out where your state stands. If your state has not yet introduced menopause coverage legislation, contact your state representative and ask why. Share this information with the women in your life: your daughters, your coworkers, your friends navigating midlife quietly because no one told them they had options.

The women who came before us carried this in silence. We do not have to.

References

1. Weiss-Wolf J. What's next for menopause legislation in your state? Ms. Magazine. January 7, 2026. https://msmagazine.com/2026/01/07/menopause-legislation-law-policy-state/

2. Women's health research will finally focus on midlife in 2026. Certainty News. December 30, 2025. https://www.certaintynews.com/article/in-2026-womens-health-research-will-finally-focus-on-midlife

3. New Jersey Assembly Democrats. New Jersey Menopause Coverage Act signed into law. January 9, 2026. https://www.assemblydems.com/m/newsflash/home/detail/12915

4. The Pause Life. 2026 state summary of menopause bills. https://thepauselife.com/blogs/the-pause-blog/2026-state-summary-of-menopause-bills

5. Evernorth Research Institute. Women's health in 2026: A strategic imperative for plan sponsors. January 6, 2026. https://www.evernorth.com/articles/womens-health-in-2026

6. Jackson Lewis. Virginia Governor Spanberger proposes amendments to menopause accommodations legislation. April 2026. https://www.disabilityleavelaw.com/2026/04/articles/paid-sick-leave-2/virginia-governor-spanberger-proposes-amendments

7. Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Final versions of significant Virginia employment legislation set to take effect July 1, 2026. April 2026. https://www.seyfarth.com/news-insights/final-versions-of-significant-virginia-employment-legislation-poised-to-take-effect-july-1-2026.html