A Letter from Elektra’s CEO: Why the Menopause Penalty Is Everyone’s Problem

Menopause has vast financial implications in the U.S. for individuals, employers, and payers. The solution is simple.

This past March, a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that women experience a 4.3% reduction in their earnings, on average, during the four years following a menopause diagnosis. What’s more, the study found that earnings losses rise up to 10% by the fourth year. Unsurprisingly, the impact of such losses is more severe for women of lower socioeconomic status.

Chief among the factors at play here is the simple fact that we don’t work our best while struggling with symptoms, including depression, unpredictable bleeding, and hot flashes to name a few. And these symptoms persist for years, and still largely go untreated. Historical stigmas and general ignorance of menopause don’t help matters either.

An Elektra patient put the challenge of navigating menopause in the workplace vividly: “I was in an interview when my face started blotching out, and he was like…doesn’t that hurt? And I thought to myself, I’m losing all credibility. It’s bad enough being a woman at this age trying to go back into the workforce, and now I have to deal with this?”

Validating Elektra’s foundational beliefs

While the NBER study focused on economic data from Norway and Sweden, we have observed firsthand the vast financial implications of menopause in the U.S. — the understanding of which has guided our business from the start. Our 2022 workplace survey of 2,000 women ages 40-55 found that 38% of participants had missed at least one day of work due to menopause symptoms in the year prior, with 18% missing more than four days. But the economic impact doesn’t stop at earnings lost due to missed work.

In 2023, Elektra commissioned an actuarial study of millions of health insurance claims to better understand medical costs and the menopause care gap. Actuaries saw that symptomatic menopausal patients incur 45% more healthcare costs per year than their non-symptomatic peers, per diagnosis codes. Dollar wise, this translates to $4,637 — the cost of four month’s worth of groceries for a family of four in the U.S.

This discrepancy in healthcare costs is likely owed to limited access to appropriate care and the result of unmanaged symptoms. Women experiencing comorbid conditions during the menopause transition such as depression, anxiety, brain fog, and joint pain are left to bounce from specialist to specialist – we see this trend in the claims data — and many will need to take time off work to do so, while also paying for additional copays.

Most troubling about this phenomenon is that the common sense solution — healthcare geared specifically to women in midlife — remains largely inaccessible for the women who will be most affected economically. Last year, Elektra became the first virtual menopause care provider to accept Medicare and Medicaid so beneficiaries insured under those plans can access the same high-quality care from menopause-trained clinicians as self-pay, or privately insured patients.

Why Elektra is championing a longitudinal approach to women’s health

Menopause is the proverbial tip of the spear for how we live; what happens in our 40s, 50s, and 60s directly informs what the remainder of our lives look like. Yes, women are living longer than ever, but so too matters how we are living – for individuals, payers, and employers. It goes without saying that navigating preventable conditions and playing financial catch-up for the aggregated earnings lost due to menopause does not bode well for quality of life.

By assuming a longitudinal approach to women’s health in midlife, starting with menopause, we have the unique opportunity to improve health and wellbeing in the short term, while staving off chronic diseases that hamper quality of life down the line.

At Elektra, we’re deeply committed to making this vision a reality for all women, and are indebted to the organizations whose partnership has already helped to transform this conversation into action.

Jannine Versi

Co-Founder and CEO of Elektra Health

The future of women’s health is bright, and we’re excited to carry this energy and momentum into 2025… and beyond!

Interested in being part of the movement to elevate and modernize the conversation around menopause? We’d love to chat.

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