For those planning on BF or EP-ing....

PhoebeJune1984

I know there are probably a lot of ladies that know about this, but there are probably a lot of ladies that don't know about this. If you are planning on BF or EPing, save ALL of your receipts from items that you have purchased for doing so. Like your pump, breastmilk storage bags, nipple cream, any additional parts for your pump, breastpads, etc. You can use them as tax write offs! 

Nerdchild

And (since I know we have a small handful of military dependants on the board) Tricare will now reimburse you for pump and some other bf/ep related supplies, as long as you have receipt and a written prescription from your o.b. (you just have to ask them to clarify manual, electrical, or hospital grade-if needed).

stillcozy

@PhoebeJune1984 good to know! Is there a list somewhere we can find all that is a tax write off?

Question for those who have had pumps covered by insurance before. At babies r us registry party they gave me a number to call but it seems exclusive to babies r us and modela ? Or did you just call your insurance directly? I want to get started on this and neither was open when I called also did your insurance just cover rental or the purchase of a pump?

thebigoaktree

My insurance pays for a breast pump so make sure to look into which one they cover, mine is a specific brand.

PleaseSendPicklesNow

Thanks for posting--this is great to know. After so many years of requiring expensive bras, these boobs can start earning their keep, haha!

stillcozy

Can I go buy new bras from vs and write them off?!
Eta: auto correct fail

simplymizzj

@Lindsayleigh1989 Depending on what kind of insurance you have, you should be able to call your insurance directly and they can tell you which breast pump they cover (most cover double electric pumps by medella or ameda or you can choose to rent hospital grade). They will also provide you with a list of vendors they are contracted with. If they cover both brands, I would suggest calling each vendor before going to find out which brand they carry since some may only carry one brand over the other. And oh yeah, you will most likely need to get a prescription from your doctor too.

DominiqueU

@Lindsayleigh1989 I would call your insurance directly because they all have different rules. I think they'll be able to best direct you to make sure whatever you get is covered. I'm going to call mine on Monday. My OB gave me a prescription for the breast pump last week, so I want to get it as soon as possible.

elenabrent

@Lindsayleigh1989 I went through Aeroflow. They contacted my insurance, let me know which ones my insurance would cover, and handled everything. It was awesome.

blackgirlmagic

@Lindsayleigh1989 my insurance encourages everyone to BF so I was told that I would get a new pump at my six week check up. But they did say that if I needed to rent on from the hospital that they would pay for it. I forget which brand they said they are using this year. I'm going to ask about it more at my next appointment.

OP thanks for sharing this information. I had no clue that these items could be written off as a tax return. I was also going to ask the person that does our taxes what we can write off for next year and what he will need from us for the baby.

anskip

I got my pump through my insurance with DD. They only offered an Ameda. It works great, just be prepared to be given a specific brand. Also, I could order it until a certain time before due date (I think 30 days). It showed up on my doorstep the day we came home from the hospital.

elenabrent

I'm pretty sure the Affordable Care Act made it mandatory for insurance companies to provide a breast pump.

stillcozy

OP would a nursing bra/ nursing clothes be considered a write off?

PhoebeJune1984

@Lindsayleigh1989 Yes!

PhoebeJune1984

elenabrent said:

I'm pretty sure the Affordable Care Act made it mandatory for insurance companies to provide a breast pump.

It is, but different insurance companies offer different things. Like Kaiser CA only offers manual, so if you need an electric, you are going to have to buy one. And Kaiser WA/OR offers a cheap one that is known for having suctions issues, and if you EP....you might as well just get one that is known for being a workhorse, so you don't have to deal with having a crap pump (which is what I have to do). So it really depends on your insurance and what they will provide. I am taking the crap insurance one away, and just going to keep it in my trunk so I never have to pack up my good one. But I will be paying out of pocket for a good one, so I will be sending the receipt in for taxes. 

PhoebeJune1984

Lindsayleigh1989 said:

@PhoebeJune1984 good to know! Is there a list somewhere we can find all that is a tax write off? 

I haven't done this since 2011, since that DD was born, but I just collected everything related to my boobs, and gave them to our tax guy. At the time, he couldn't find a specific itemized list, so he put everything in. I believe it can be up to 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. My husband is actually going to email our tax guy and see if he has come up with any updated stuff since the last time we deducted items, and if he can now find some sort of list. So I can always update on this post once we hear back from him. Since I am sure that things could have changed between the time my DD was born, and now. 

quartz02

elenabrent said:

I'm pretty sure the Affordable Care Act made it mandatory for insurance companies to provide a breast pump.

Not 100% sure this is accurate now, but as of a couple years ago, if your plan was a "grandfathered plan" it wasn't mandatory.

huskypuppy14

quartz02 said:

I'm pretty sure the Affordable Care Act made it mandatory for insurance companies to provide a breast pump.

Not 100% sure this is accurate now, but as of a couple years ago, if your plan was a "grandfathered plan" it wasn't mandatory.

Lurker from June*

My sister is also pregnant and the insurance through her husband's job is grandfathered plan so it doesn't include a breast pump. Apparently though, everything else about the plan is better so it's a small expense in the grand scheme of things.

MDmomma1217

So much has changed in 6 years since DD was born. At the time, my insurance wouldn't even cover the pump!

angieo25

I work as a CPA and in order to take a medical deduction, there are a few items to consider. First, you must be itemizing (schedule A) and not taking the standard deduction. Next, your medical expenses have to EXCEED 10% of your adjusted gross income (the threshold was previously 7.5%). Any medical expenses that you pay with a HSA or medical premiums that are pre tax that your employer withholds from your paycheck cannot be picked up as medical expenses on your tax return that count towards the 10%. I know I sound like a dork but I work with these types of things every day

dolewhipper

@angieo25 this is why I havent even tried itemizing, I know I wont get near that amount.

angieo25

Everyone's tax situation is different, I always recommend to keep receipts/records to see where you end up at the end if the year.

HoosierTerp

In previous years you could only deduct medical expenses over 7.5% of your agi. I believe this was changed in 2015 to 10% and now you can claim up to $1000 in breastfeeding expenses. I don't believe you can claim it if you have an fsa. Don't quote me on this, definitely check in to it!

eta: just saw a cpa answered. Yeah, go with what she said!

jenkeale

I went through Aeroflow with DD and plan to do it this time again. They make the process so easy and do all the work for you. I had UHC at the time, so I got a Medela PIS that arrived before baby came. Never called insurance or my Dr.

pandamonium20

Aeroflow is the program I signed up with. I am supposed to hear from them in the next few days to see what my insurance offers.

DobbysSock

 

I am so mad I didn't know this when I breastfed and pumped for DD for 1.5 years. Damnit. 

ETA: After reading a bit of the comments, it seems to be more related to health care insurance. I'm not sure if it would have benefited me as a Canadian. I'll ask my accountant if I should be tracking these things for the next baby. Thanks for the tip!

PhoebeJune1984

angieo25 said:

Everyone's tax situation is different, I always recommend to keep receipts/records to see where you end up at the end if the year.

Yes this! We always hit the minimums because we pay all medical out of pocket. But this is why we just save everything, and let our tax guy deal with the things that can/can't be deducted and such. There is such a broad range, and sometimes stipulations, and we can never keep up with all of it. If I was doing our taxes on our own....I would be at a totally loss (especially since now my husband owns his own business, and we have a in-home office and everything). It would be such a nightmare! 

trucksntutus

I actually clicked on the Aeroflow ad on this app to get my breast pump! They contacted my insurance for me and I got the call today that my insurance will be mailing me out the Medela In Style. Super easy and convenient.

babycompton15

@Lindsayleigh1989 I was at babies r us starting my registry yesterday and the women who assisted us said the company that they work with calls your insurance company to see which one of the 3 main brands your insurance covers or doesn't cover. :-)

HMcDade1

Posting this here because I'm so intrigued by this and I ultimately am super lazy and hate figuring things out like this ...

https://www.breastpumps.aeroflowinc.com/

I found this link today while on TB website. Essentially this company takes all of the guess work out of the process if you know which pump you're most interested in. They call your insurance and contact your provider for the Rx and then they call you to make sure everything is correct and that this is the style you want/is covered/ etc. Then they mail you off the requested pump. I signed up to have them handle it for me and I should be hearing from one of their company reps within 5 days so I'll let you know how that goes but it seems promising !

stillcozy

Aerflow doesn't take my insurance boo!

jenkeale

@Lindsayleigh1989 That sucks! I hope they take my new one this time around, now I'm nervous. On one of the other threads though, someone said a "pump dealer like Aeroflow" so maybe there are others?

HMcDade1

@jenkeale if you hear of another let me know. I'm waiting to see if my request via Aeroflow goes through or not !

holly142

With DD, I called my insurance. They told me which pumps they cover. They also told me that I can get one at one of their medical stores which does all the paperwork for me. Or I could buy one somewhere else and then submit the paperwork to get reimbursed. It was worth the 20 minute drive to their store in order to not worry about the hassle of paperwork!