Two Democratic women in the Ohio House want lawmakers to approve a bill that would make it easier for women to get menopausal hormone therapy. The lawmakers said while menopause is inevitable, fighting insurance companies shouldn't be.
“Around the Statehouse, we've made a nickname for this bill, which is the 'Hottie Act'," said Rep. Ashley Bryant Bailey (D-Cincinnati).
Bryant Bailey said many women in Ohio could benefit from hormone therapy before, during and after menopause.
“Four in five women experience menopause symptoms—symptoms that can affect sleep, focus, mental health and overall quality of life," Bryant Bailey said. "And yet, too many women in Ohio are navigating those symptoms while told while being told that they do not have the treatments that they need covered or are simply out of reach financially."
Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) is an OB/GYN, and noted hormone replacement therapy wasn't advised several years ago. But she said that guidance has been lifted at the federal level. And while hormone therapy can have positive health impacts for women, Somani said it can also be expensive and not covered by insurance.
“I don’t think that’s how we should provide health care—based on who can afford it and who can’t," Somani said.
Somani said House Bill 767 would align Ohio’s insurance standards with updated federal guidance and clinical evidence to ensure women who need hormone therapy during menopause can get it.
HB 767 was just introduced but already has 19 co-sponsors. Bills to change standards for health insurance providers typically face an uphill climb, as do many Democratic-sponsored bills in this Republican-controlled legislature.
