New nonhormonal menopause drugs ease symptoms but face insurance hurdles
New drugs to treat debilitating menopause symptoms — namely hot flashes — are finally on the market or are in development.
New drugs to treat debilitating menopause symptoms — namely hot flashes — are finally on the market or are in development. But doctors say insurance companies either won’t pay for them or make women try and fail with other, perhaps less effective, drugs before they do.
The conundrum has left women who might benefit from the new drugs at the mercy of health insurance companies.
“It’s not like a doctor can write a prescription and you go to the pharmacy and pick it up,” said Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director of women’s health policy at KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization. “New drugs tend to cost a lot of money, and insurance plans can be very reluctant to cover them.”
Hormone replacement therapy is often recommended during menopause, but some women, such as breast cancer patients, can’t take it because the added hormones could fuel their cancer.
Newer drugs, however, have nothing to do with hormones.
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