Audrey Mann Cronin takes over THCB today and has a THCB Gang special called \u201cThe Odyssey of Women\u2019s Health: Journeying into the Midterms \u2013 Obstacles, Opportunities and What We Can Expect\u201d<\/p>\n
The panel is Liz Powell, an attorney and Founder of both G2G Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates, and former Capitol Hill staffer; Dr. Elizabeth Garner, CEO of Sena Therapeutics, former CSO for Ferring, and past President of the American Medical Women\u2019s Association; and, Dr. Mitzi Krockover who founded both Women Centered and Femtech AZ, and is an investor serving as Managing Director of Golden Seeds<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going to be the impact of politics, policy and the mid-terms on Women\u2019s Health? Hear from these advocates, as they reference this summer\u2019s blockbuster!<\/p>\n
The transcript (made by Youtube and Claude so blame AI for any mistakes!)<\/p>\n
Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Hello to everyone, and welcome to a special episode of Matthew Holt\u2019s THCB Gang. My name is Audrey Cronin. I\u2019m a communications advisor in healthcare and technology and a passionate women\u2019s health advocate. I\u2019m so pleased to be joined today by a powerhouse of women healthcare leaders. But before we start, a big thank you to Matthew Holt, who, in a rare tender moment, offered to have me be the Rosie O\u2019Donnell to his Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s panel is made up of thought leaders in women\u2019s healthcare policy, investment, and life sciences and medicine. What we all have in common is that we are all part of Women\u2019s Health Advocates, the nation\u2019s only bipartisan lobbying organization that advocates at the federal and state level to advance women\u2019s health, head to toe.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The 2026 midterm elections are upon us. We\u2019re all reading about it \u2014 it\u2019s here. The current split of the Congress is 218 Republicans, including one independent, and 212 Democrats. State by state, who sits in Congress matters, and matters profoundly to women\u2019s health. This is why we\u2019re here. By now, most understand that women make up 51% of the United States\u2019 population. Yet women\u2019s health remains underfunded, under-researched, and overlooked.<\/p>\n Like Odysseus in the Odyssey \u2014 yes, I\u2019m going there \u2014 we are on a journey, this one to overcome obstacles and fragmented factions with advocacy and education that is proven to have the power to influence policy change, shape women\u2019s health, and save lives. Today we\u2019ll talk about these obstacles, opportunities, and what we can expect with the results of the midterm elections and women\u2019s health going forward.<\/p>\n Our panel today includes Liz Powell, Dr. Elizabeth Garner, and Dr. Mitzi Krockover. I would love for you to introduce yourselves. Liz, would you like to go first?<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Sure, happy to. Thanks so much. Liz Powell. I\u2019m the founder and head of both GDG Consulting, a lobbying firm in Washington, and Women\u2019s Health Advocates, which we just launched in February of 2025. And I\u2019m a former Capitol Hill staffer. Beth, want me to go next?<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n Sure, yes. Hi, Beth Garner. I\u2019m a women\u2019s health physician by training \u2014 an OB\/GYN and a gynecologic oncologist. I jumped into industry about 20 years ago to help women by developing therapies for women, and I\u2019ve been in women\u2019s health all that time. I\u2019m now CEO of Sen Therapeutics. We\u2019re developing therapies for PCOS.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Great. Mitzi, thank you.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Great to go on this odyssey with all you lovely women. I\u2019m really excited about that. I am Mitzi Krockover. I\u2019m an internist by training and previous practice. I was the founding medical director of the Iris Cantor UCLA Women\u2019s Health Center, and then went on to Humana as vice president of women\u2019s health, and now I\u2019m very immersed in the innovation space, because we need more solutions for women\u2019s health. I am currently the director of women\u2019s health innovation at the ASU College of Health Solutions, and co-founder of FemTech Arizona, creating a hub for women\u2019s health innovation here in the state of Arizona. I literally want to be invested in women\u2019s health, so I am a managing director at Golden Seeds, an angel investment organization, and CEO of Women Centered, which is a media and women\u2019s health strategy company.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Wow, wonderful to have you all. So, Liz, I\u2019d love to start with you. Can you tell us more about why you started Women\u2019s Health Advocates, and secondarily, as a lobbyist in Washington, DC, can you share the women\u2019s health policy changes that are being legislated today and are the most high-stakes, as well as the role policy plays in innovation? So, two big questions.<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, absolutely. Most people don\u2019t realize that women and people of color were not required to be included in clinical trials until 1993. So there have been huge gaps in the data that informs medical decision-making to this day. When a woman presents in the ER with a heart condition, she\u2019s twice as likely to die afterward, because we just don\u2019t have the data. A lot of doctors aren\u2019t even trained on appropriate data on women, and sex differences go down to the cellular level.<\/p>\n As a lobbyist and somebody who works in Washington, what I started to see, instead of a gap here or there, was consistent gaps that needed to be addressed. Whether it\u2019s inclusion in clinical trials; research funding for women\u2019s health, which is defined as those conditions that solely, disproportionately, or differently impact the health of women, head to toe, over the lifespan \u2014 so, more research dollars and investment there; or the regulatory process, making sure that new women\u2019s health innovations are able to get through FDA to reimbursement. If you\u2019re not reimbursed or don\u2019t have coverage, then the innovation never reaches patients. And finally, there\u2019s access. You can have the greatest innovation in the world, but if you\u2019re not reaching rural America, for example, then we\u2019re not really being effective in advancing health for women.<\/p>\n Having a greater understanding of all those gaps is what gave me the idea to start Women\u2019s Health Advocates. I\u2019d been teaming up with Mitzi and Beth for years, addressing different gaps in women\u2019s health, and we decided we needed all of women\u2019s health, head to toe, to be addressed through a lobbying organization. We are the only lobbying organization that is educating and advocating to close those gaps in women\u2019s health, head to toe, over the lifespan.<\/p>\n What\u2019s been amazing is that we organized the first-ever Women\u2019s Health Capitol Hill Day \u2014 you can see behind me all the smiling faces. We\u2019ve brought people to Washington several times now to do these Hill Days. We\u2019ve done online events. We\u2019ve done events across the country, 25 at this point, coast to coast and in between. What we were finding is that there\u2019s huge energy and interest in taking action and better understanding these gaps and then doing something about it. And how do we do something about it? We\u2019ve got to advocate. We\u2019ve got to use our voices. And we have to get out and vote.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s midterm elections are going to result in at least a 16% changeover in Congress. It\u2019ll be more than that, because there are about 21 toss-up seats. So there\u2019s going to be big change, and if we can make women\u2019s health a priority for candidates and those who are in office, then we can really shift the ground. We can really transform research, the FDA approval process, reimbursement, and address all these specific health conditions. So I\u2019m very excited about what I\u2019m seeing so far across the country: all 50 states, over 5,500 advocates. We are really raising our voices and making a difference.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazing. All right, Beth. Now I\u2019d love you to tell us how you define women\u2019s health, and why this definition is so important given today\u2019s climate and the ongoing challenges for women and the conditions we face, as Liz talked about, at every stage of life.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, thanks so much. As Liz said, definitions are always important, wherever you are, and certainly when we\u2019re talking about policy and speaking to members of Congress who are making really serious decisions about our health. It\u2019s critical for us as women\u2019s health advocates to ensure policymakers understand what women\u2019s health actually is. That\u2019s really important for us, and it\u2019s even more important in the current climate, as we have so much work to do to ensure that women\u2019s health is top of mind.<\/p>\n We now think about women\u2019s health broadly \u2014 Liz basically said that \u2014 as way more than reproductive health, or, as some of us call it, \u201cboobs and tubes.\u201d We\u2019re not boobs and tubes. We are way more than that. Women\u2019s health really encompasses the full arc of a woman\u2019s life, and the physical, the mental, the emotional dimensions of our lives, from birth through death. And along that journey, women deal with a number of conditions that we now think about in three buckets, and these are the definitions that we talk about. There are conditions that affect only women, such as endometriosis, as an example. There are conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as Alzheimer\u2019s. And then there are conditions that differentially \u2014 differently \u2014 affect women, such as heart disease.<\/p>\n As you heard from Liz, I think we do have a better understanding of women\u2019s health now, because we think about these conditions in these three buckets. But unfortunately, I would say we\u2019re just really far away from actually addressing women\u2019s needs, no matter what color or ethnicity they are, where they live, how much income they have, and so on. The disparities across the US and around the world are enormous. So I think we\u2019re doing a great job in terms of definitions and getting policy people to really understand, and this is really where, as Liz has said already, advocacy comes in.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Great. Thank you for that. Mitzi, do you want to talk about policy impact and what solutions get to market for women, and what can be done to encourage the creation of legislation that gets evidence-based \u2014 importantly, evidence-based \u2014 products to market faster?<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Sure. I just want to piggyback on some of the things Liz talked about. When you look at the continuum of innovation, or solutions, it\u2019s really a pipeline, if you will. It starts with good research, and then that good research informs evidence-based solutions. Those solutions need clinical trials in order to prove their efficacy or their outcomes, and then they go through a regulatory process if it\u2019s a device, a diagnostic, or a therapeutic. Then it has to be adopted into the health system, and mostly it\u2019s only going to be if somebody\u2019s paying for it, covering it, or reimbursing for it. And then it has to be adopted into clinical practice, and that\u2019s by training and awareness by the physicians themselves. In every area I just talked about, there is a policy implication.<\/p>\n If we look at women\u2019s health research, as Liz talked about, we have a dearth of information, because we didn\u2019t really start including women and other underrepresented groups until 1993. So we\u2019re behind the ball. Now, two years ago, unfortunately, women\u2019s health got conflated with DEI. So now we have researchers whose research is being denied funding because they are studying women, or they\u2019re studying a woman\u2019s body parts, and they\u2019ve had to be very creative in the way they\u2019ve talked about it. It\u2019s really made an impact on the research that\u2019s becoming available in women\u2019s health. So we need to focus on that.<\/p>\n The second area is that these innovators need support for their innovations and clinical trials. There are things like grants that have been available to what they call small businesses, and again, because of the conflation of DEI with women\u2019s health, some of those have been taken away. So we need to be very cognizant of that issue.<\/p>\n And then, finally \u2014 not finally, but \u2014 reimbursement. We know that certain procedures that are similar between men and women, the ones done on women actually get reimbursed in some cases less. So if you\u2019re a health system or provider, what are you going to do? You\u2019re not going to do the women\u2019s procedure, you\u2019re going to do the men\u2019s procedure. So we need to focus on that, as well as coverage decisions for insurance. Where that really makes an impact is that Medicare and Medicaid, the government-backed insurance, really dictate what commercial insurance will cover. When they make decisions, and that\u2019s a policy decision, commercial follows.<\/p>\n Finally, we can also have an impact on medical education dollars, as to what is taught in medical schools and in training, and so that\u2019s also a policy decision. If we make a decision to make physicians aware of these new innovations, as well as women\u2019s health in general, then we\u2019ll be better served. As you can see, all along the pipeline is where policy really makes a difference, and where we have opportunities to really benefit everyone.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Wow. I love how you strung that all together, and where policy intersects every time. It\u2019s so exciting to be part of this, and we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do. So thank you for taking us all the way through that.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Taking you on that journey, right?<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, we\u2019re on a journey. Absolutely. So, Beth, back to you. Can you tell us about your experience as an entrepreneur, how you see private-sector funding as it relates to policy, and what the landscape looks like for women\u2019s health?<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, thanks for that. As the CEO of Sen Therapeutics, my experience as an entrepreneur has really been grounded in identifying an important unmet need and then building the company, the team, and the partnerships necessary to address it. Of course, entrepreneurship requires vision, but it always requires discipline as well, resilience, and a willingness to keep learning and adapting. Ultimately it\u2019s about translating a compelling scientific or clinical opportunity into something that can actually improve patients\u2019 lives, which is what we\u2019re all after here.<\/p>\n I view private-sector funding as an essential partner to public policy. Policy, as you\u2019ve heard, can help define priorities, can certainly remove barriers here and there, can encourage innovation, and ensure, of course, that patients\u2019 needs and public health remain central. Private capital provides the resources and the expertise to turn promising research into therapies, companies, and solutions that can then reach patients. So the two are most effective when they work together \u2014 when policy creates the right environment for innovation and private investment helps move that innovation forward.<\/p>\n I would say the landscape is changing. There is growing recognition of the significant unmet needs in women\u2019s health, and I\u2019m hearing that every single day. As a person who\u2019s financing \u2014 getting money for \u2014 women\u2019s health, it\u2019s changed for sure over the years, which is exciting. We\u2019re seeing increased interest from entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and policymakers. But I think we need to make sure we sustain that momentum, with better data \u2014 you\u2019ve just heard about data already \u2014 more inclusive clinical research, and funding models that support companies through that long, very complex process of developing a therapy. So for me, the opportunity is not simply to build a successful company. It\u2019s to help advance a healthcare system that takes women\u2019s health seriously, invests in the science, and gets us better outcomes for women across their lives.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Great. Well, thank you for all that you\u2019re doing. That\u2019s exciting and so important. So let\u2019s get back to Liz, on specific critical issues related to endometriosis and breast cancer legislation, because we have research funding and the EARLY Act. I\u2019d love to have you talk more about what we might expect from outcomes in those spaces.<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. I would love to start with a thank-you to our advocates. We did a big push for the EARLY Act, which funds and reauthorizes screening programs for women, and we got that to pass the House. Now we\u2019re waiting to see if it can pass the Senate. They\u2019re not in session this week, and they have very little time left before they\u2019re out completely for the elections, so it\u2019s unlikely that things will move before the elections. At the end of the year, when they come back after November 3rd, that is when they\u2019ll have to figure out a lot of these bills. So we have been working to continue to educate and advocate for the EARLY Act.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been working on endometriosis, as you mentioned. We\u2019ve done a couple of letters to the Department of Labor for workplace protections. We just did a letter with Congresswoman Williams to HHS, Health and Human Services, around reimbursement gaps for endometriosis. It\u2019s the same code and same reimbursement rate for ablation, which takes 30 minutes, versus excision, which can take four, six, even eight hours \u2014 which is insane, that we\u2019re disincentivizing the gold-standard care. And many other issues we\u2019re working on. We were also excited to see the IMPROVE Act pass the same night in the House, which addresses maternal mortality and maternal health issues.<\/p>\n So there\u2019s lots of legislation that we see as non-controversial. It\u2019s just about having the time to get it onto the schedule, and we could see it getting through at the end of the year. We will certainly be advocating, and sometimes they\u2019ll just put it all together on an omnibus. They have to get the 12 appropriations bills done, so it\u2019ll likely be a big bill that will include all of it.<\/p>\n The other factor is how the elections swing things. Do we have a sudden change in control? Many are thinking that Hakeem Jeffries will become the new Speaker in the House, and if that\u2019s the case, they may punt it to next year, when the Democrats have more power to do it. Either way, in the House the chamber is so razor-thin that it doesn\u2019t really matter \u2014 you\u2019ll need both sides to get a lot of things through. So it\u2019s not going to be a huge shift. If it does shift power, it\u2019ll just be a little bit of a shift, but that does give them some power to do things, and gives them control of the gavel of the committees, and so they\u2019ll do, I\u2019m sure, lots of investigations. There\u2019ll be a big dynamic change in the committees.<\/p>\n For the Senate, it\u2019s still up in the air. It\u2019ll be tight for Democrats to take control of the Senate, but either way we expect the chamber\u2019s margin to be closer between the two. All that impacts what legislation can be worked on. So are we going to see a huge $200 billion increase for women\u2019s health research? Unlikely. But could we see other changes? Could we fix the reimbursement challenges Mitzi is talking about, the gaps in care, in access, in rural health? There are a lot of good issues we could be working on in women\u2019s health that are very bipartisan, that no matter who controls, we will certainly be working to make a priority.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n I have to say, Liz, every time I hear from you, I always feel better about things. So thank you.<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Optimism.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019re a force, and I appreciate you so much. You talked a little bit about maternal health. Mitzi, can you talk more about our country\u2019s maternal health policies and where we currently stand?<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. It makes me sad \u2014 not maternal health, but our outcomes. We are at least 24th, if not worse, when we look at all of the other developed and non-developed countries when it comes to our maternal health outcomes. And Black women have a three times greater risk of dying than Caucasian women. We need to do better, obviously, and that also provides us opportunity. It\u2019s not just a care problem, it\u2019s a prevention, screening, and access problem.<\/p>\n We have, I believe, one out of three counties in the United States that are OB deserts, which means there are no obstetrical services at all. We see a number of hospitals closing their labor and delivery units because of low reimbursement and resources, and obviously our rural health residents suffer the most, but in every state, everywhere, we really have a dearth of access.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the good part: innovation can help, right? Through telehealth, through remote monitoring, we can identify things faster so we can get more treatment to the women who need it. AI-enhanced information, both for physicians and for women. And again, in all of those areas, policy really makes a difference. Forty percent of births in this country are covered by Medicaid, which is government-sponsored insurance. So obviously when Medicaid gets cut, those women are impacted, but when it gets expanded, they\u2019re also impacted in a positive way.<\/p>\n There was also something called Medicaid expansion that was provided to the states a few years ago, and that means there\u2019s coverage for that fourth trimester, that year after birth, where you can identify or treat issues that came up during pregnancy, like preeclampsia and hypertension, diabetes, mental health issues. So important. And we\u2019re seeing that. Those states that adopted that expansion actually had better outcomes. So those are positives.<\/p>\n Then, to the extent that we can support the innovation, that again creates opportunities for access for women, with remote monitoring, telehealth, diagnostics, point-of-care \u2014 what we call where women can actually do a diagnostic test themselves. All of those have an impact. And the final thing we talked about earlier was reimbursement. There\u2019s a new policy where it used to be that you\u2019d get kind of one-size-fits-all reimbursement as a provider for an obstetrical case, and now they\u2019ve unbundled it, so that if you have a higher-risk or higher-need patient, you actually get paid for that. That should hopefully help a bit on that reimbursement and coverage issue.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Great. That\u2019s great. So, Beth, Mitzi touched on Medicaid and Medicare. Do you want to talk more about the impact of CMS and why it\u2019s so important to health insurance?<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, certainly. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plays a truly foundational role in the US healthcare system, as I think all of us know. Its decisions affect how millions and millions of people access and pay for care. As it relates to health insurance, it helps define the rules of coverage and reimbursement, as you\u2019ve heard from Mitzi, and its policies of course influence which services and therapies are covered, how providers and insurers are paid, what quality and value standards must be met, and how affordability and access are addressed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to know that CMS decisions \u2014 and I think Mitzi, you already said this, but I\u2019ll say it again because it\u2019s really important \u2014 generally have a broader effect on the whole healthcare market by establishing precedent and shaping expectations, meaning commercial insurance pretty much generally follows CMS decisions.<\/p>\n Some important areas to be aware of: Medicaid covers about 42% of all births, which is amazing, and just considering what we just heard about birth and women and their babies, it\u2019s critical that we address these horrific disparities between women of color and Caucasian women. Better coverage is clearly, badly needed. You also heard from Mitzi \u2014 I\u2019ll say it again \u2014 about differences in reimbursement rates for surgical procedures for male and female patients. This is absolutely not okay and we must address this disparity, and thankfully we have Jocelyn Fitzgerald, who\u2019s an amazing physician and a member of Women\u2019s Health Advocates, working very, very hard on this. So that\u2019s really exciting.<\/p>\n For companies like mine that are developing new therapies, CMS is also a critical stakeholder. There\u2019s FDA, of course \u2014 we have to get our products approved, and that tells us that a therapy is safe and effective for its intended use. But coverage and reimbursement is what ultimately determines whether a patient can realistically access our products. So that\u2019s really, really important, and it means innovators need to think early about their evidence. What are they going to bring to CMS regarding clinical efficacy and safety, real-world outcomes, the health economics, the patient impact, the value to the healthcare system? Many companies, especially startups, really don\u2019t understand that, so I continue to talk about thinking about that very early in development.<\/p>\n CMS also has an important role in advancing health equity \u2014 or at least it should. Its policies can help address disparities in access, improve quality across populations, and ensure that innovation reaches the patients who need it most, not only those with the greatest ability to pay. So from my perspective as an entrepreneur, CMS is not simply a regulator or payer. It\u2019s one of the key institutions shaping the healthcare ecosystem, and understanding its role is really essential to developing solutions for women that are not only scientifically meaningful but also accessible, affordable, and sustainable within the healthcare system.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Wow, we\u2019re all fired up.<\/p>\n [laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n Go ahead, Mitzi.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s okay. I just want to underline something, because Beth can actually speak to this much better than I can. A place where I think, again, it\u2019s a great example of policy working is something called breakthrough designation. The government has decided that there\u2019s something that really needs solving that hasn\u2019t been solved before \u2014 maybe it\u2019s osteoporosis, for example \u2014 so they give basically an expedited approval process. Not less rigorous, just a little bit more expedited. And then if it meets all the criteria, it can be reimbursed by CMS, or there\u2019s a code given to it. That\u2019s a great example of how the government and innovation work together to get solutions to individuals more quickly. We have so many gaps in women\u2019s health, and I\u2019m hoping to see a lot more breakthrough designations in the future. Beth, I don\u2019t know if you want to comment on that.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n No, it\u2019s a great point. Yeah. The RAPID program is what\u2019s pending right now. There\u2019s an open rule to comment on, to close that gap.<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Exactly. So, two additional points I just wanted to add \u2014 Beth, you got me fired up. One is menopause and perimenopause. When women go in to see their doctors, there is a copay, and many of us are working to eliminate that copay, because it is essential. There are so many things happening, and it\u2019s not just hot flashes and brain fog. You are suddenly at much higher risk for heart disease, autoimmune conditions, and many others. We need to educate and stop the current practice of many women seeing eight or ten different doctors before they finally get HRT, or whatever care they need. So we need to have no copay for that, and we need to have better resources.<\/p>\n The other thing I wanted to point out, just to make a fine point on this, because I think people don\u2019t realize: the reimbursement rate for equivalent surgical procedures is anywhere from 30 to 150% higher if it is a male patient. Let that sit. That is unacceptable, and that is hurting patients \u2014 not just the one getting the surgery, but future patients. Because if you can\u2019t afford to do these surgeries, whether you\u2019re the doctor or the medical facility, you\u2019re going to do fewer and fewer of these surgeries, and eventually you\u2019re just going to shut down that wing completely. That\u2019s going to hurt all women. So I just wanted to make a finer point on that one.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, I cannot believe we\u2019re here and we hadn\u2019t talked about menopause yet. So thank you for that.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n And osteoporosis.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. So important. And, Liz, this is, I think, a final question, although I\u2019ll open up at the end if there\u2019s anything you want to add. Back to the midterms: there are so many issues we have to tackle, so many things we just talked about. What do you expect to happen, what are some races we should be watching and how do they impact the industry and patients, and what interesting candidates do you think we should be looking at?<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, I certainly hope more and more candidates are talking about women\u2019s health issues and seeing that the broad definition of women\u2019s health really is impacting their constituents. We\u2019re working to help shape that. We\u2019re doing voter education efforts. We\u2019ve been doing this whole amazing initiative that Mitzi took the lead on, called My Vote, Our Health \u2014 a five-part series. We\u2019ve got another one coming up on September 24th and then the final one in October, so tune in for that.<\/p>\n We are also tracking the elections and evaluating those top races, and I think there are some really interesting candidates and elections. In Arizona, we have a physician running. In Iowa, you\u2019ve got not just two House seats but the Senate seat, all of those toss-ups. Ohio suddenly now has two toss-ups, plus the Senate race is a toss-up. Pennsylvania has three toss-ups. Michigan is really interesting: two on the House side that are toss-ups, and then the Senate race is proving different than what people thought, because Abdul El-Sayed, who\u2019s the far-left candidate but also a physician, won the Democratic nomination, and Mike Rogers is an incumbent \u2014 a former congressman, pretty moderate, actually. When I worked on Capitol Hill, he was in office and we worked together on a lot of things, so that\u2019ll be an interesting race that could really go either way.<\/p>\n So there are a lot of races to watch, a lot of states to watch. No matter what, though, we are making sure people understand that women\u2019s health is bipartisan. Women\u2019s health impacts all of us. It impacts our economy. We are hoping to drive people to vote for women\u2019s health: talk to candidates about women\u2019s health, what they think about women\u2019s health, and then make sure that you vote for women\u2019s health.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Great way to end it. Is there anything we didn\u2019t talk about, panelists, that you\u2019d like to add? I always like to open it up.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n I would like to just underline a little of what Liz was saying. I think we\u2019ve had this thread before, but I want to say it explicitly: women\u2019s health is not a nice-to-have. Sure, we all want better health for everybody, but it\u2019s really an economic imperative. It impacts the workforce, it impacts our economy, it impacts our healthcare and healthcare costs. And we have the data, if anybody needs that to believe it. McKinsey did a report, now very well known, that if we were to close the gap in women\u2019s health, we would get a $1 trillion return on investment annually by 2040 globally. In the United States, that translates to $295 billion. I don\u2019t know about you, but I could do a lot with that kind of money. If we had $295 billion, we could do so much. But it\u2019s also imperative for us as a country. It increases our productivity, it increases our competitiveness. Women are the majority of caregivers, who do it for free. If we don\u2019t have women, who\u2019s going to care? As well as reduce healthcare costs. So when we talk about this, it\u2019s really something that doesn\u2019t just benefit women, it benefits everyone.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n And you can get rich off it. A hundred billion dollars in ROI from women\u2019s health investments over the past 25 years \u2014 trillions of dollars globally.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, CEO, Sen Therapeutics<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, okay \u2014 that\u2019s the Oriana report?<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, okay, but the Aoa Dx study is what I\u2019m quoting. They found that, by just studying all the exits and making sure they\u2019re classified correctly, a hundred billion dollars in ROI has already been earned. People are wealthy today because of their investments in women\u2019s health, half of that in just the past five years, and it includes 27-plus unicorns. So if you don\u2019t care about any of that, you can make money. Just think about it that way.<\/p>\n [laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n Do well and do good.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n There you go. I want to say that this is so interesting, and the timing is so important, because we\u2019re heading into the midterms, so there\u2019s so much for us to be advocating for. We will be having Liz on the main stage at HLTH after the midterms, and I know you talked about the analysis you\u2019re going to be doing, so stay tuned for that as well. We may come back and do another webinar after.<\/p>\n Dr. Mitzi Krockover, Director of Women\u2019s Health Innovation, ASU College of Health Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Can you share the title? I love the title.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n The title of this webinar, or \u2014<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n No, my talk: \u201cWhat the Elections Just Decided for Women\u2019s Health.\u201d<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Right, so that\u2019ll be a packed house, I\u2019m sure. And then I just wanted to say \u2014 unless, Liz, you want to talk about what people should do if they want to take action, or do you want me to take that one?<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, go ahead.<\/p>\n Audrey Cronin, Communications Advisor, Healthcare and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Okay. If you want to take action, please visit the Women\u2019s Health Advocates website, where you can join our community, write to Congress, join our steering committee, and donate.<\/p>\n [laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you. This was amazing. I\u2019m so grateful that you joined me today, and for all that you\u2019re doing, and I look forward to hearing more. So thank you so much again.<\/p>\n Liz Powell, Founder, GDG Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you so much. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Audrey Mann Cronin takes over THCB today and has a THCB Gang special called \u201cThe Odyssey of Women\u2019s Health: Journeying into the Midterms \u2013 Obstacles, Opportunities and What We Can Expect\u201d The panel is Liz Powell, an attorney and Founder of both G2G Consulting and Women\u2019s Health Advocates, and former Capitol Hill staffer; Dr. Elizabeth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}