Why Menopause Needs a Seat at the Policy Table

A few years ago, if you had told me I would be putting on a power suit, flying to Washington, DC, and advocating for menopause, I never would have believed you. But that is where this journey has taken me.

Over the past several years, I’ve watched the conversation around menopause change in ways I never could have imagined when I first started talking about it publicly. And one of the people helping push that change forward is Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, an attorney, advocate, and author of When in Menopause.

Jennifer has spent years working on women’s rights and public policy, first helping lead the fight against the tampon tax and now focusing on menopause. When we sat down for this episode of The Tamsen Show, I wanted to understand what happens when the menopause conversation moves beyond awareness and into actual policy.
Because talking about menopause matters. But if we want lasting change, we also have to change the systems around it.

How Menopause Became a Policy Issue

I remember one of my first trips to Washington, DC, when we were standing outside at a press conference holding signs that said, “Let’s Talk Menopause.” A group of men in suits walked by pointing and laughing before continuing on their way.

At the time, it felt like we were trying to convince the world that menopause was even worth talking about.
That has changed dramatically. The M Factor, the documentary I produced, was screened in the Senate and helped menopause be mentioned on the Senate floor for the first time. We are seeing more doctors, advocates, lawmakers, employers, and women talking openly about menopause.

But Jennifer reminded me that awareness is only one part of the equation.

The next question is: What do we actually do with that awareness? That is where policy comes in.

Jennifer shared how she first became interested in menopause policy after years of working on menstrual equity. In 2020, while experiencing symptoms she initially attributed to the pandemic, a friend suggested that what she was experiencing might actually be menopause.

Then her friend asked her a question that changed the direction of her work: What policies existed around menopause?

So she started looking. And what she found was a huge opportunity for change.

What the Tampon Tax Taught Us About Menopause

Jennifer's work on the tampon tax is an important part of understanding why she approaches menopause advocacy the way she does.

When she began working on menstrual equity, menstrual products were still subject to sales tax in the majority of states. The argument was straightforward…if food and medicine can be treated as necessities, why shouldn't products people need because they menstruate?

The campaign helped bring menstruation into conversations about public policy, fairness, and equity.
And Jennifer sees a similar problem with menopause.

Sometimes women aren't being deliberately excluded from a policy. The problem is that no one is thinking about them when the policy is being created in the first place.

That really struck me. Because if no one is asking the question, the answer is never going to change.

What Needs to Change About Menopause Care?

As Jennifer explains, there are gaps in medical education. There are gaps in research. There are gaps in access to treatment. And there are gaps in insurance coverage.

Menopause treatment is not uniformly covered by private insurance, employer-sponsored insurance, or Medicaid, and Jennifer pointed to vaginal estrogen as one example of where coverage can still fall short.
We also talked about how menopause fits into the healthcare system itself.

If you bring up menopause during an annual appointment, you may not have much time to discuss it. And depending on how that visit is structured and billed, you may have to raise menopause as a separate “problem.”
That language alone says a lot. Why should a normal stage of women's lives have to be framed as a problem before we can talk about it?

Jennifer believes one important step would be making menopause care a more routine part of women's healthcare, including the possibility of a dedicated annual menopause visit.

Why States Are Becoming So Important

One of the things I found particularly interesting in our conversation was Jennifer's focus on state-level policy.

When we think about changing healthcare policy, it's easy to immediately think about Washington, DC. But Jennifer explained that some of the most meaningful movement around menopause is happening in state legislatures.

More than half of the states have introduced legislation addressing menopause care and treatment coverage, and states are increasingly looking at what they can do to improve access.

Jennifer made that point very clearly: no political party has done a particularly good job addressing menopause over the past several decades. This is about something much more basic…whether women's health needs are being considered when policies are created.

What Does Menopause Mean for Women at Work?

More employers are beginning to offer menopause benefits and accommodations, which is a positive development.
But Jennifer raised an issue that I think deserves much more attention: accommodations are only part of the conversation.

What happens if a woman is afraid to disclose that she is struggling with menopause because she worries it could affect her career? What happens if she asks for an accommodation and fears being viewed differently because of it?

Those concerns are real.

Jennifer explained why anti-discrimination protections are so important alongside workplace accommodations. She pointed to Rhode Island, which became the first state to pass legislation specifically addressing menopause in the workplace and included anti-discrimination protections as part of that legislation. That distinction matters.

Women shouldn't have to choose between getting the support they need and protecting their careers.

You Don't Have to Be a Politician to Be an Advocate
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One of the questions I hear most often after screenings of The M Factor is, “What can I do?”

Jennifer's answer is something I really wanted to bring into this conversation because advocacy can sound much more intimidating than it actually is. You don't have to be an attorney. You don't have to understand legislative language. And you certainly don't have to fly to Washington.

Advocacy can start in your own life.

It can mean asking questions at your doctor's appointment, talking to your family, or sharing accurate information with your friends.

Jennifer believes everyone has something to contribute, and I agree. The people who change conversations aren't always the people with the biggest platforms. Sometimes they are simply the people willing to start talking.

When I think back to that press conference in Washington, when those men walked by laughing at the signs we were holding, I think about how much has changed since then.

But I also think about how much still needs to change.

Menopause is not just a conversation about symptoms. It is a conversation about healthcare, research, insurance, workplace rights, education, aging, and whether women are being considered when decisions are made. Jennifer has spent years showing what advocacy can accomplish when people are willing to ask questions that weren't being asked before.

And I believe we are at an important moment in the menopause conversation.

We have moved from asking people to simply acknowledge menopause to asking what we are actually going to do about it.

Watch the full conversation with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf on The Tamsen Show to learn more about menopause policy, healthcare, workplace protections, and advocacy.

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