AARP Endorses WARM Act to Increase Menopause Awareness

En español | All women will experience menopause, but many may not feel comfortable discussing it. Stigma and lack of awareness prevent some women from seeking treatment for troubling symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia or mood changes — and doctors may not discuss remedies with their patients. This can needlessly keep women from enjoying a high quality of life as they age.

AARP has endorsed bipartisan federal legislation that aims to increase menopause awareness, so more women have the information they need to help them through this inevitable life transition. The bipartisan WARM (We’re Addressing the Realities of Menopause) Act would create a national menopause awareness campaign and invest money in menopause research and education.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), also calls for training grants to improve the diagnosis and treatment of menopause by health care providers.

“Women need to have access to meaningful, relevant and useful information about the transition to menopause,” so that they can “stay healthy and continue to thrive in the workplace,” AARP wrote in a letter to the bill’s sponsors.

A 2023 AARP survey found that 90 percent of women 35 and older reported experiencing at least one menopause symptom, with five symptoms being the average. Nearly 40 percent of women in that age group said menopause had a negative impact on their work life, the same survey found.

The financial costs aren’t just for women. The economy as a whole suffers, we wrote in the letter. In fact, menopause symptoms cost U.S. employers a total of $1.8 billion a year in lost productivity, our letter points out, citing a recent Mayo Clinic study.

Read the letter, and keep up with AARP’s health coverage.

Natalie Missakian covers federal and state policy and writes AARP’s Fighting for You Every Day blog. She previously worked as a reporter for the New Haven Register and daily newspapers in Ohio. Her work has also appeared in the AARP Bulletin, the Hartford Business Journal and other publications.

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