PCOS Treatment and Awareness

Dear House and Senate leaders:

The undersigned individuals, state and national organizations- representing diverse constituencies -join together to express our strong concern about the high numbers of individuals with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in this country that are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed and/or untreated.

We believe there is insufficient community outreach, health resources, services, providers and other barriers that prevent women and girls with PCOS, (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) from obtaining necessary diagnosis and treatment of this syndrome. The cost of such inadequacies comes at the expense of the women and girls with PCOS who languish needlessly jeopardizing their health while the healthcare system unfairly remains uneducated and ill-equipped to deal with the complex treatment needs of this population.

It is estimated up to 10\% of women in the United States alone have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and less than half know they have it! This means there is a large percentage of untreated women and girls who could be put at unnecessary risk for many life threatening conditions including type II diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke and kidney problems. To add to this problem, The National Organization for Rare Disorders lists the syndrome as rare and, as a result many states dont mandate that health insurance companies cover the drugs to treat the syndrome.

We call on Congress to enact legislative proposals that will improve access to essential health services, insurance coverage and educational programs, through promotion of guidelines for proper diagnosis, treatment and care for women and girls with PCOS. There are small steps that can be taken to obtain this goal including; improved coordination of local and state health programs; increasing funding of community programs and health services to support and research PCOS; allowing expansions of federal health entitlement programs; fostering state and local collaboration programs to connect women and girls with PCOS to health services; mandating insurance coverage for women and girls with PCOS and other proposals that seek to avoid a host of adverse outcomes for women and girls with PCOS who are unable to access the proper diagnosis, treatment and educational resources.

The undersigned organizations, campaigns and individuals look forward to working with Members of Congress to enact these reforms that will help address this widespread national problem.

Petition written by Ashley Tabeling, PCOS Awareness Advocate.