Why is menopause treatment in Australia so expensive? [Video]

Hormone therapies for women experiencing menopause are too expensive and inaccessible, and doctors aren’t confident managing the condition, say a range of submissions to a Senate inquiry looking at how menopause shapes women’s health and careers.

Several healthcare organisations have emphasised that most menopause treatments developed in the past 15 years are not subsidised in Australia – forcing women to rely on private scripts that can cost $50 a month – and are calling for more options to be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

“More than half of Australians may at some point experience the debilitating symptoms of menopause and perimenopause …