Open enrollment is a time when employers evaluate healthcare costs, review benefit offerings, and determine where to invest in the coming year. With menopause support gaining attention in employee benefits strategies, more organizations are considering specialized programs and virtual care solutions.
According to the 2026 SHRM Employee Benefits Study, 27% of surveyed organizations now offer menopause support or resources, compared with 18% the previous year.
While this growing recognition is encouraging, it raises an important question: Before investing in another menopause benefit, have employers evaluated the coverage, accessibility, and utilization of the benefits they already provide?
For some organizations, additional benefits may be necessary. For others, the greatest opportunity may be improving existing coverage, strengthening employee education, and helping employees access care that is already available.
Especially as healthcare costs are placing increasing pressure on employer benefits budgets. According to WTW's 2026 Best Practices in Healthcare Survey, U.S. employers project an 11.1% increase in healthcare costs for 2027 before plan changes, while 68% report that healthcare costs are rising faster than their total rewards budgets. As organizations evaluate new benefits and specialized healthcare solutions, understanding the value of existing investments is becoming increasingly important.
1. Evaluate Existing Coverage and Access to Care
Many employer-sponsored health plans already cover services relevant to menopause, including gynecological care, specialist visits, hormone therapy, and certain non-hormonal treatments. But coverage on paper does not always translate into accessible care.
Employers should work with their benefits advisors and insurance carriers to review covered treatments, provider networks, prescription requirements, and potential barriers to care.
Geographic access deserves particular attention. Employees may live or work in areas with limited access to clinicians experienced in menopause care, sometimes described as menopause care deserts.
One practical starting point is The Menopause Society's Find a Practitioner directory, which allows users to search for menopause-trained clinicians, including Menopause Society Certified Practitioners, by location. Employers can use this resource alongside their insurance provider directories to better understand potential access gaps.
The directory is not exhaustive, and certification is not the only indicator of quality menopause care. Employers should also consider insurance participation, appointment availability, and existing telehealth coverage.
If significant access gaps exist, a specialized virtual menopause care solution may be a worthwhile investment. But that decision should be informed by an assessment of actual employee needs rather than an assumption that another benefit is required.
2. Close the Awareness and Utilization Gap
Even when appropriate healthcare services are available, employees may not recognize that their symptoms are related to perimenopause or understand how their benefits can help.
Sleep disruption, brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, and other symptoms can affect an employee's experience at work. Without adequate education, employees may attribute these changes entirely to stress or burnout, delaying conversations with healthcare professionals.
This is where employee education and manager training become important components of a comprehensive benefits strategy. Rather than focusing exclusively on new benefit offerings, organizations can help employees recognize symptoms, understand when to seek medical guidance, and navigate their existing healthcare coverage.
Manager education is equally important. Managers should understand how to respond appropriately when employees need support and how to direct them toward available workplace resources without making assumptions about their health.
An employer can invest in comprehensive healthcare coverage, but that investment has limited value to employees who don't know what support is available or how to access it.
3. Connect Benefits Strategy to Workforce Outcomes
Menopause support should not be evaluated solely through healthcare spending. Employers should also consider how menopause-related challenges may intersect with retention, absenteeism, productivity, and leadership continuity.
These workforce outcomes are already measured by most organizations, yet menopause may be an overlooked contributing factor.
For HR, Total Rewards, and finance leaders, the objective is to evaluate whether existing investments are addressing employee needs and where additional resources could create meaningful value.
That might mean improving access to qualified providers, addressing coverage gaps, strengthening benefits communications, or introducing employee and manager education before purchasing another ongoing benefits solution.
Better Benefits Strategy Starts With Better Questions
The goal of open enrollment should not simply be to offer more benefits. It should be to ensure that existing investments are accessible, understood, and aligned with employee needs.
With more than 15 years in corporate finance, analytics, and strategic planning, we approach menopause support through the same lens as other business investments: understand the current state, identify the gaps, and invest where resources can create meaningful value.
Before adding another menopause benefit, make sure you understand the ones you already have.
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The free Perimenopause Power Workforce Benefits Audit provides seven questions HR and benefits leaders can use to evaluate existing coverage, identify awareness and utilization gaps, and inform future workforce investments.
Download the Workforce Benefits Audit
Perimenopause Power helps organizations strengthen employee education, equip managers, and develop practical workforce menopause strategies.
