This week, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held the first-ever congressional hearing focused on menopause titled Half the Country, Zero Hearings: Meeting the Moment to End the Menopause Care Gap in America.
At the bipartisan hearing, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Rick Scott called for the Government Accountability Office to evaluate federal funding for menopause care, training, and research.
“Congress has never held a single hearing on the [menopausal] gaps in care that [women] face,” said Gillibrand. “The neglect of menopause research, education, and treatment is a healthcare failure, an economic failure, and a policy failure.”
NIH data shows $78 million was spent on menopause research in 2025, compared with $768 million for its newly established Men’s Health Research category. Meanwhile, 8 to 10 million women experience menopausal symptoms each year, according to the Senate committee.
“We must talk about the severity of [menopausal] symptoms, the outrage that money isn’t being spent, [and] the fact that our doctors aren’t being trained,” said Gillibrand.
During the hearing, witnesses discussed key symptoms associated with menopause and the ongoing care gap – caused by a lack of education, and treatment and physician shortages. The discussion also highlighted widespread misinformation that has impacted women’s access to care – most notably, the black box warning that was inaccurately required on menopausal hormone therapy following the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative until November 2025.
The hearing called for the federal government to assess the current state of menopause care and develop a plan to fund the category, improve education for providers and patients, and increase affordable care access.
