Ep. 130 - Women Pay $350 for a Hormone Men Get for $86 | Katrina Pierson

Women are paying $350 for a testosterone pellet. The same hormone, in a men’s tube, can last a year for $86. Texas Rep. Katrina Pierson (HD 33) — former Trump national spokesperson and chair of the House Subcommittee on Maternal Health, Menopause and Access to Evidence-Based Medicine — sits down with Brad Swail on Texas Talks to walk through her Texas Women’s Health Initiative: baseline hormone testing, HRT coverage, physician liability, iron and prenatal access, and why she says doctors now practice insurance instead of medicine. Pierson spent 14 years in healthcare, including OB-GYN. She filed a menopause-coverage bill in 2025 that never got a hearing. After the FDA lifted the HRT black-box warning, she took a larger package to the Speaker and got interim charges. In this conversation she explains: • Why she wants insurance to cover physician-prescribed perimenopause and menopause treatment — including testosterone when medically necessary • The case for baseline hormone testing before women get labeled with depression or anxiety • Prior authorization, compounding clinics, and telehealth HRT after the black box came off • Why Medicaid still requires a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and why she wants physicians able to dispense iron and basics in the office • What she heard in her subcommittee’s first hearing on prenatal nutrition and Healthy Texas Women • The gap she flagged in HTW: enrollment is up, participation is down • The next hearing (date TBD) on menopause and perimenopause, including patient testimony at the Capitol Texas Talks — policy conversations with the people shaping Texas. Subscribe for more interviews with Texas lawmakers, agency leaders, and policy experts. Chapters 0:00 If a doctor prescribes it, why can’t you get it? 0:55 Intro: Rep. Katrina Pierson 2:26 How the Women’s Health Initiative started 4:28 Baseline hormone testing 7:37 Physician liability and testosterone 8:51 The $350 pellet vs. the $86 men’s tube 10:04 Why women use testosterone 11:25 Telehealth HRT and prior authorization 13:34 Iron, folic acid, and standing orders 24:19 The black-box studies and starting HRT early 27:33 Yesterday’s subcommittee hearing 28:28 Physician dispense and rural access 31:32 What Healthy Texas Women actually is 33:04 Enrollment up, services down 35:59 How is women’s health in Texas right now? 37:22 North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator 38:42 Close #TexasTalks #KatrinaPierson #WomensHealth #HRT #Menopause #TexasLegislature #txlege Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks Follow us on social media X: @Texas_Dispatch Instagram: thetexasdispatch LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch TikTok: texas_talks_podcast Find more at The Texas Dispatch Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism. https://thetexasdispatch.com