Hello and welcome to FutureFemHealth Pro - our deeper analysis on the women’s health market.
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Something has changed in the women’s health reimbursement conversation this year.
Over the past few months, I’ve had a steady stream of founders and others in the ecosystem wanting to talk about why reimbursement is more important than ever. Some have secured reimbursement. Some are trying to work out how to get there. Others are questioning whether existing payment systems can accommodate what they’re building at all.
Reimbursement has always been central to healthcare, of course. But in women’s health, it feels as though the conversation has moved up the priority list in 2026 - and the message is getting through that it must begin much earlier in the company-building journey.
There are plenty of signals. Dedicated Women’s Health Reimbursement Summits in the US led by 51&’s Jodi Neuhauser. A new roadmap from the Milken Institute for women’s health innovators navigating coverage and reimbursement. And from January 2027, new US obstetric codes are due to replace the traditional bundled model, following years of advocacy from ACOG that the old structure no longer reflects how maternity care is delivered.
We can also look at reimbursement more broadly too. While, the mechanics of coding, coverage, payment and health system adoption are very different between the NHS, US insurers and other health systems, there are signs of similar spotlighting of the issue globally. In the UK, a new Parliamentary briefing out this month, for example has asked why more FemTech products are not yet ready for NHS adoption.
So, take away the word reimbursement and the theme underneath this is common wherever you are in the world: what does a product or service have to prove, become or fit into before somebody other than the patient will pay for it?
In this week’s FutureFemHealth Pro I take a look at what is changing - and what should women’s health founders and investors be thinking about now?