Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Two Illinois senators Thursday discussed legislation meant to make life easier for Illinois women going through perimenopause and menopause.

“Under current Illinois law, health care professionals are required to complete one hour of implicit bias awareness training during license renewal,” said State Sen. Adriane Johnson (pictured, left) (D-Buffalo Grove). “What my bill does is simple. It allows a course covering perimenopause and menopause to count toward the existing one-hour training requirement.”

State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel (pictured, right) (D-Shorewood) is sponsoring a bill which would prohibit private insurance companies from requiring prior authorization or step therapy in treating menopause.

“I think we are kind of done,” Loughran Cappel said at the same news conference. “I think we are fed up with not getting the care we need; having insurance companies dictate to us, that stop service. We have a lot of work to do. Sometimes we know what we need, and I think our doctors know what we need right away.”