Intro/Question about insurance and pump rental

rebecca1198 · April 2014

Hi mamas. I'm not a preemie mama, but my daughter will be born with a birth defect in May and will be staying in the NICU for about 2 months. Unfortunately, given the nature of her defect, she will be unable to breast or bottle-feed for a long time, so I will be exclusively pumping until she's ready for milk. I looked in the Preemie Resource Blog and did a forum search (HAHA!) for this, but I'm wondering if anyone has been able to get insurance to cover a hospital grade pump rental for kiddos in the NICU? My insurance plan basically has a blanket statement saying that they will cover purchase of a personal pump, but nothing specific for the NICU. Has anyone come across this and successfully contested it? I'm fine with renting the hospital-grade pump myself from the hospital, but it's $65 a month, so if I can get that covered, that would be awesome. (Not to mention that I already have a PISA from my son and it's still in great shape, so I really don't need another one!)

PurpleIris30 · April 2014

I would contact an insurance rep to see the specifics of your policy. For me, insurance would reimburse the cost of the purchase of a pump OR they would pay for rental if the child met certain criteria (hospital stay of over X days, prematurity, physical impairment resulting in inability to breastfeed, etc.). There was a limit to the number of months of rental though.

Also check to see if your NICU has pumps for use in the hospital. Our NICU had pumps in each of the rooms that I could use while I was in the NICU so I needed a pump for any nights I spent away from the NICU and for when we were finally home. Thus, it was better for me to use the NICU pumps (which were really nice) and apply my insurance benefit to purchasing a pump I could use long term.

rebecca1198 · April 2014

They definitely have lots of pumps to use when I'm there, but I won't be sleeping there and I will need to pump overnight at home. I'm jumping the gun here because I can't call until Wednesday (30 days before birth), but wanted to get a feel for what I'd be up against until then. I do have her diagnosis code on the pump script from my midwife, so maybe that will help.

xnbride · April 2014

The LC gave me a nice pump to use while E is in the NICU. Insurance also approved the purchase of a pump. I don't really like that pump though so I am still using the hospital pump.

jbranden12 · April 2014

My insurance covered $200 for purchase OR rental of a pump. I rented the symphony for the 3 months Anna was in the NICU.

xladybassx · April 2014

Our hospital rented symphony pumps to NICU mamas for free for the duration of their stay. Our insurance would have covered rental of a hospital pump while they were in NICU if the hospital didn't already give us one. Once my girls came home my insurance paid for the purchase of a pup in style advance, but I paid to rent the symphony for 2 more months because I was having supply issues. Definitely call your insurance to find out!

rebecca1198 · April 2014

@xladybassx‌ I wish! That would be awesome. A Symphony rental from our hospital is $65/month. Not hugely expensive, but enough so that I'd rather not spend it! Sounds like you agree then that for exclusively pumping mamas, the symphony is worth it over the pump in style advanced though, even if I have to pay for it out of pocket?

Throw3ks · April 2014

I rent the symphony from the hospital as that's what I started with when my LO was in the NICU. That's what the NICU had available. I had a pump at home we purchased and after using the symphony it just didn't cut it. We pay $60/month out of pocket for it but I find it totally worth it. It's fast, effective, quiet and easy.

xladybassx · April 2014

rebecca1198 said:
@xladybassx‌ I wish! That would be awesome. A Symphony rental from our hospital is $65/month. Not hugely expensive, but enough so that I'd rather not spend it! Sounds like you agree then that for exclusively pumping mamas, the symphony is worth it over the pump in style advanced though, even if I have to pay for it out of pocket?

Oh most definitely, the symphony is worth it! I wish I still had mine. The pump in style works better than I expected it to, but it is not as comfortable as the symphony and it takes a lot longer to pump. I got a lot more milk with the symphony too!

spin25 · April 2014

You may already have your answer, but my insurance would cover the purchase, not just rental, of a hospital grade pump if your baby was in the NICU and his/her neonatologist wrote a script including a diagnosis for why baby could not breastfeed. They wouldn't accept one from my OB.

Xath · April 2014

Wow. I contacted my insurance today and found out we're SOL getting them to pay. They wouldn't let me order the regular pump until a month before my due date (yesterday) and it will take 10-12 business days to arrive. I asked them about renting even for those 2 weeks and they said they won't cover it.

So now I'm bidding on a Symphony on eBay because I really want a hospital grade anyway.

rebecca1198 · April 2014

spin25 said:

You may already have your answer, but my insurance would cover the purchase, not just rental, of a hospital grade pump if your baby was in the NICU and his/her neonatologist wrote a script including a diagnosis for why baby could not breastfeed. They wouldn't accept one from my OB.

I wish. I have a "cadillac" insurance plan but United Healthcare sucks. I am SOL and they won't cover anything but the purchase of a double electric. Looks like I'm getting one, selling it and using the $$ to rent from the hospital. Thanks for your insight gals!

andthatmakes4 · April 2014

The person I spoke with at my insurance co had said they would pay for me to rent a hospital grade pump while DS was in the NICU. I submitted the paperwork for the reimbursement and they denied it. I probably should have fought harder for it and it would have been covered. But I didn't have the fight in me then for $65. Good luck to you!!

xladybassx · April 2014

How long do you plan to pump for? Hospital pumps are really expensive, but if you plan to pump for a long time it may be cheaper to straight up buy one rather than rent. Are you still waiting for the eBay auction to close? Another thought, I know some babies r us stores rent hospital grade pumps, I'm not sure if it might be cheaper to rent from them but it may be worth looking into. I'm sorry your insurance is being so dumb.

rebecca1198 · April 2014

@xladybassx I pumped with my son for 10 months and only stopped because I got pregnant and my supply went down, so ideally as long as possible. I didn't really consider that I would need a hospital grade longer than the time she's in the NICU, but you're right. At $65/month, it's cheaper in the long run to just buy one off eBay and try to resell when I'm done.

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