A new Maryland law requires health care providers to receive additional training on menopause and perimenopause while expanding insurance coverage for related care. It’s a change health officials say could improve treatment for women across the state, including in Montgomery County.
Educational Requirements for Doctors
Specifically, the new “menopause law” mandates the state medical licensing and certification boards require doctors and other healthcare professionals beyond OBGYNs complete at least two hours of continuing education for every one hour of training they receive on the stage of life when women’s reproductive cycles end — and the transitional stage that comes before it — in order to better care for patients and manage the symptoms associated with both conditions, such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, weight gain, difficulty concentrating and sleeplessness.
The law also requires insurers to cover the evaluation and management of menopause- and perimenopause-related conditions. This requirement includes private health insurance plans, nonprofit health service plans and HMOs.
Sponsors
Sen. Dawn Gile
State Senators Sara Love and Nancy J. King co-sponsored the bill with Senator Dawn Gile of Anne Arundel County serving as the lead sponsor. Love represents District 16, which includes Bethesda, Cabin John, Chevy Chase and Potomac. King represents District 39, which includes parts of Germantown, Clarksburg and Montgomery Village.
“It was important for me to champion this bill because, for far too long, women have gone through menopause without proper health care support — including health care professionals who are educated in the myriad ways menopause presents — and without insurance coverage, which is appalling, for a natural condition that half our population will go through. This legislation is an important part of women’s health care,” said Sen. Love in an e-mail to MCM Tuesday.
Sen. Sara Love
County Health Officer Speaks Up
Montgomery County’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Kisha Davis said she supports the legislation.
“In short, Maryland’s new ‘menopause law’ drastically improves menopause care for Montgomery County residents by removing insurance barriers, expanding provider expertise, and targeting underserved communities,” wrote Davis in an email to MCM Tuesday. “This will help incentivize healthcare professionals to pursue additional training in this area and residents benefit from more clinicians having the knowledge on how to recognize and manage symptoms related to menopause,” she said.
Both the state and county women’s commissions strongly backed the legislation, Senate Bill 892.
Testimony Helped Clarify Issues
“The doctor wrote a prescription,but cautioned me that it was unlikely to be covered by insurance. The cost was upwards of $450. Instead, she advised that I could fill the prescription online (through a Canadian Pharmacy) for “only” $150,” wrote one woman anonymously in a witness testimony submitted by the Maryland Commission for Women.
“What has bothered me is that I was never offered [Hormone Replacement Therapy] as an option. I had to find out about HRT from a YouTube influencer,” wrote another in the testimony submitted during this past spring’s Maryland General Assembly hearings leading up to the passage of the bill into law.
Outreach to Marginalized Women
As far as how this new law, which went into effect July 1, will support historically marginalized and low-income women, Dr. Davis said she is already planning outreach.
“The use of community health workers will help raise grassroots awareness and ensure that historically underserved local populations are aware of these new resources,” she said.
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