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<\/p>\nSome women are paying private clinics up to four times the amount the public health system pays doctors for menopause primary-care visits patients can get free.<\/p>\n
One Winnipeg woman said \u201cdesperation\u201d drove her to make an appointment with a private clinic that charges $385 for an initial assessment by a nurse practitioner.<\/p>\n
Erika, who did not want her last name published, said for the past year she\u2019s suffered worsening menopause-like symptoms, including night sweats, brain fog and heavy menstrual periods. The single mother who works two jobs and turns 40 this summer said her family doctor and another primary-care physician she went to both told her she\u2019s too young for menopause.<\/p>\n
Neither, evidently, assessed her for perimenopause, the transition leading to menopause. During that time \u2014 which can begin when a woman is in her 30s and last for several years \u2014 hormone levels fluctuate and produce, in many cases, the symptoms Erika described.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be dismissed repeatedly that I\u2019m too young is very frustrating,\u201d said the woman, who made an appointment next month with Menopause Practice Inc. on the advice of others who\u2019ve had similar experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so desperate to have help, I\u2019m willing to pay for service,\u201d she said Friday. \u201cI know there\u2019s many, many women who can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said women need to know they can get a menopause assessment free of charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important for all Manitoba women to know that menopause assessments by physicians are fully covered under medicare as essential medical care,\u201d Desilets, a family physician in Neepawa, said in an email.<\/p>\n
The province pays $96.33 for the physician\u2019s time and all other costs, such as the clinic space, staffing and supplies, according to the physician advocacy organization.<\/p>\n
Manitoba\u2019s Health Services Insurance Act prohibits any physician charging more to a patient paying privately than the province would pay for the same medically necessary service under the public system. Nurse practitioners working outside the public health-care system don\u2019t face those restrictions.<\/p>\n
Demand for their services surged after the previous Progressive Conservative government closed the Mature Women\u2019s Centre \u2014 a one-stop shop for menopause treatment at the Victoria Hospital \u2014 in 2017.<\/p>\n
That closure \u2014 and an estimated 150,000 Manitobans without a primary-care doctor \u2014 opened the door slightly to two-tiered health care, with some desperate women opting to pay out of pocket to be seen by a private nurse practitioner.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the NDP government announced the opening of the Manitoba Menopause Clinic in fall 2027 to close the gap and expand care.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome private clinics offer health and wellness services beyond the scope of medically necessary care, which are not insured under the public system,\u201d Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients have the option to pay for those services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since April 1, the Canada Health Act requires provinces to ensure that patients aren\u2019t charged for medically necessary care when a service would otherwise be covered if provided by a physician.<\/p>\n
Federal health-funding transfers could be clawed back if a province doesn\u2019t comply with the act.<\/p>\n
Last year, Manitoba doctors billed for 13,012 menopause assessments, with many more women receiving menopause advice and care during other check-ups, Doctors Manitoba said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Omolayo Famuyide, a certified Menopause Society of Canada practitioner and board member, runs a Winnipeg women\u2019s health clinic in the public system that devotes two days a week to menopause care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exploded in the last 2 1\/2 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big driver has to do with media coverage, and women advocating for themselves and demanding more from clinicians and employers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menopause can be a challenge to treat because there\u2019s no single diagnostic test and symptoms vary, she said.<\/p>\n
Famuyide described women in their 40s and 50s who may be caring for children and\/or parents while at the peak of their careers when they\u2019re hit with heavy bleeding, erratic periods, hot flashes and brain fog.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want some level of support for their symptoms,\u201d she said, noting she has patients who travel from as far away as Thompson, something that could be avoided if the province funded virtual visits for menopause care, reducing wait times.<\/p>\n
Manitoba\u2019s new menopause clinic, which will be located on Kenaston Boulevard in south Winnipeg, will include virtual care for women across the province, with nurse practitioners as part of a multi-disciplinary team, Asagwara said earlier.<\/p>\n
For now, Manitoba is committed to remaining in compliance with the Canada Health Act, the minister said Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2026 will continue working with nurse practitioners and other partners to take further steps to enhance care, clarify services, improve access and ensure care is delivered within a clear, consistent framework that protects patients, upholds national standards and strengthens public health care in Manitoba,\u201d Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Carol Sanders Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Legislature reporter
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