I am not returning to work outside of the home and do not plan on bottle feeding breast milk as the main means of feeding my child, but if there is a FREE pump out there to be had YOU BET I'm going to get it. I plan to use it for occasional use, like when I need to be away from our son for a few hours for an Advocare event or when John and I go away over night for some special "us" time.
I wanted to share with you the steps I took so that if any other mamas are looking into this they can save themselves a bunch of time, energy, and effort. I read a few blog posts and forums before starting the process but wanted to let you in on some time saving techniques. Please let me know if anyone is able to use this information to help themselves get a free pump!
Please share info and blog post with ANY friend you know who is pregnant! America has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, let's change this! With access to free pumps I hope more women will make the choice to feed their baby breast milk, even if they are unable to exclusively feed from their breast due to going back to work. There is an awesome kickstarter documentary movie coming out next year called The Milky Way regarding this issue. Check out their trailer, I know I can't wait!
Background on WHY you are entitled to a free pump:
The Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010 under "Obamacare". There are many parts of the ACA, but one of the most boob-mazing parts is that ACA requires health plans to cover breastfeeding support and sometimes supplies. Free stuff for the milky mamas! If you have a private insurance carrier or commercial insurer, this law applies to you. If you are pregnant or have a child you nurse this applies to you! Currently this law does not cover Medicaid or WIC. If you want to read more click here for a article.
So how do you do it? Here are some steps with tips.
1. Get a prescription
I got mine from my midwife at 35 weeks but you can get it sooner. Make sure the prescription has these things:
- Full name of yourself
- Full name of your Dr. or Midwife
- Contact info for your Dr. or Midwife (phone and address)
- NPI# of your Dr. or Midwife
- License# of your Dr. or Midwife
- Specify the type of pump. Mine says "electric double breast pump", the highest grade. Downgrading is always an option but upgrading is difficult if it is not written on the prescription
2. Call your insurance company
This is important! Call them for several reasons. Firstly to check your benefits. Ask questions and WRITE down the answers. Also ask for the person's name and their employee ID# so that when you call back you can ask to be put on the phone with them again instead of another random person. These are some questions you should ask:
- What type of pump can I get? Manual, electric, double electric, hospital grade, rental?
- What is the maximum amount you cover?
- What brands do you cover?
- Can I get the pump before my baby is born, or do I have to wait until delivery?
- What if I want a different pump from what's covered?
- Can you send me a list of in-network DME or pump providers?
I wanted a double electric pump, specifically a Medela pump with two phase expression. There are a bunch of leading brands out there! I didn't care what the pump looked like or how it would transport. If you go to Medela's website you can look and see if your insurance will cover their pumps! If you know the type of pump you want after calling your insurance it will help you figure out if you are willing to pay a little extra to get that pump. Read reviews of pumps and figure out what will work for you. Here are some pump websites:
3. Contact a Supplier from the list of in-network providers.
- Have your insurance information handy and a scan a PDF version or your prescription.
- I figured out that any of the DME's I could drive to do NOT supply breast pumps because they are not a priority item. This means that I had to order a pump through a supplier that was contracted through my insurance company. Medela listed two providers that work with my insurance company and I called both of them.
- Put your eggs in a few baskets with suppliers! One of them might be out of the pump you want or they might not be contracted with the pump company you want even though they are contracted through your insurance. Another issue is wait time. Ask when they will ship out your pump and what the estimated wait is.
- Usually when you call they will create a customer account for you and they will give you an account #. WRITE THIS DOWN! They will usually ask you to email or fax your prescription information after they verify your benefits with your insurance company.
- ALWAYS ask an estimate of how long each step will take and if you don't hear back from them CALL. Usually they don't purousfully not call you back, they are just busy. I called every day for four days to see what the status of my order was.
- Here are some common suppliers MOST insurance companies work with:
Website: http://www.betterlivingnow.com/support/accepted-insurances.cfm
Phone Number: 800-854-5729
Byram
Website: http://www.byramhealthcare.com/breastpumps/index.php
Phone Number: 877-773-1972
Edgepark® Medical Supplies
Website: https://www.edgepark.com
Phone Number: 800-321-0591
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