Breast Pumps

cryscaulfld · January 2016

Has anyone called their insurance yet to talk about breast pumps and the like? I called mine today just to verify hospitals since it is a new insurance year and asked about coverage of breast pumps and after looking at some online, I'm seriously hoping that I misheard the reimbursement amount of $28. That won't cover even some of the manual pumps. Anyone have a similar issue or experience?

DressageDarling · January 2016

I had my husband call our insurance and they are 100% covering an electric and manual pump. I just need to have my OB send paperwork in for it. I hope your's ends up covering more!

Pam973 · January 2016

You may have heard it wrong our insurance covers a high percentage and we ended up paying about 28 dollars so perhaps it's a mis understanding. If not there are other options some hospitals rent them or if you are low income wic will assist as well.

charmedlifex3 · January 2016

Mine covers a hospital grade pump, in full, but I have to order through their provider and I get .... whatever one they cover.
I'll probably buy a second one for pumping at home, a cheaper electric one most likely, once I take the nice one to work....
I did find one on Amazon with great reviews for just under a hundred. More than likely that will be the back up pump.

Jenniferk08 · January 2016

I have Aetna and they cover it. There's a store yummy mummy online and they will help you.

For my son I had the medela Pisa. I loved it. I spent a year pumping, 6 months of that was while working. Make sure whatever you get that you get a way to do it hands free. Either the pump itself or a halter. My supply soared when I did that.
Pumping became my time to read, close my eyes, chat. I had a nice chair set up, a nightstand next to it with basic supplies (lanisoh cream, extra pump parts, pump bags, snacks).

bsckgb7 · January 2016

Mine is 100% covered or they will pay for a hospital grade rental

Kristin712 · January 2016

Mine is covered 100% as well. I can get it as early as 28 weeks.

Perhaps you misheard? I would call back... sometimes you get different information from different people. If they don't cover much, look into buying a used one on Craiglist or your neighborhood garage sale group on facebook (if there is one for you area).

DDRRT1982 · January 2016

Get a medela. Pump in style is great.

jmknox · January 2016

@DDRRT1982 yes! I pumped 13 months for DS and had two Medela pump in styles. They were work horses!

smilormarie · January 2016

I highly recommend a medela (my amends purely yours was useless and I ended up renting the hospital pump for 3 months) but get an ameda closed system tubing, valves, and flanges for it. That way you can make your "open system" medela into a closed system and it can be sold to a friend after you're done with it. Good luck!

Edited to say it is strongly recommended to rent the hospital pump before you leave the hospital. It is super powerful to help bring in your milk and then you can switch to your home pump.

ThisisNumber3 · January 2016

If you have the option of upgrading and paying a bit out of pocket, the Medela Freestyle is amazing (I have used both the freestyle and the Pump in Style).

The freestyle has:
Removes from bag so you can easily slide into any purse
Battery for when you may not have an outlet (comes with power cord)
Stronger flanges and membranes (dont need to replace frequently)
Memory for your settings (it goes to my levels when I turn it on)
Back lit display with a timer (see how long you've been pumping).

mooncusp22 · January 2016

Mine is covered 100% also. I remember with DD1 though, I couldn't get it until after she was born. Kind of annoying. My mom went out to Babies R Us to get it while I was still in the hospital so I had it immediately.

Ceventa · January 2016

When I had my son, our insurance covered the cost 100%. I simply called them and they gave me the number of the medical supplier to order from. I had the choice between a manual and electric. I ended up going with the Ameda Purely Yours pump, and bought some extra parts off Amazon since you regularly need to change the valves, and I needed extra storage bottles too. It ended up being a pretty good pump. I breastfed and pumped for a total of 13 months.

This time around we have different insurance, so I need to find out what the deal is with breast pumps. I'm hoping I can score a new one for baby #2 since my Ameda is pretty worn in.

texasmama2014 · January 2016

I am a medela fan. Even the handheld pump is great. I had the swing which is a single pump and it was covered 100% by my insurance. Not an ideal pump but I pumped for over a year with it. $28 seems ridiculously low. Pumping can be expensive, but so can formula.

bananers · January 2016

I haven't looked into our current insurance but when I had DS it was covered at 100% but they only offered the Ameda Purely Yours, which was just ok. We changed insurance in the new year and then the new insurance covered a Medela (also at 100%), which was a much nicer pump. I took the Medela to work and left the Ameda at home (previously I had been taking my Ameda back and forth every day).

My insurance didn't cover it until after the baby was born, but that wasn't an issue. Unless baby has feeding issues or you have supply issues, you don't need to pump right away. The best way to regulate your supply right off the bat is to just nurse as much as you can/as much as baby wants. I started pumping once a day when DS was 3 weeks old so we could introduce a bottle and DH could feed him, and so I could actually leave the house without him! That worked well for us.

cryscaulfld · January 2016

Thanks for all your input ladies! I just called my insurance a second time and it is only $28 that they cover. The amount of actual anger that I have toward this is ridiculous. I work at a nonprofit and sometimes wish I had just hopped on my husband's for-profit insurance in order to have somewhat better benefits.

mouse1029 · January 2016

cryscaulfld said:

Thanks for all your input ladies! I just called my insurance a second time and it is only $28 that they cover. The amount of actual anger that I have toward this is ridiculous. I work at a nonprofit and sometimes wish I had just hopped on my husband's for-profit insurance in order to have somewhat better benefits.

See when his open enrollment is. Weigh out what you pay towards benefits vs what you pay in copays, etc. sometimes it's worth it.

ginger819 · January 2016

Sometimes being on two insurances pays for itself... I got on DHs when we got married and my parents just kept me on theirs because it didn't cost much (though this year is my last i can be on it). They are both really good insurances and we paid about half of what we thought we would for DDs birth. Though it can be a hassle sometimes it was worth it. (If you pay a lot for a not so good insurance this might not be the best option, but if you aren't paying much it might actually help). My OB called to find out how much we would pay with each insurance separately and how much together maybe you could just call to find out or see if your OB office could help.

Especially with a birth it could save money to just switch insurances too. I would second the finding out how different the costs would be as compared to the premiums. I know DHs insurance is way better than anything I could get at my work.

My insurance paid for my Medela Freestyle last time and I'm excited to get a second one.

cryscaulfld · February 2016

We looked at putting me on his this past year during open enrollment but it would have been close to $300/paycheck total for him and I..$35 of which is just a fee each month for having me on it because my workplace offers insurance. The only that is sort of decent about my plan is the prescription benefits where his are awful and would have triple the cost of my only monthly medicine.

jwittwer · February 2016

mouse1029 said:

cryscaulfld said:

Thanks for all your input ladies! I just called my insurance a second time and it is only $28 that they cover. The amount of actual anger that I have toward this is ridiculous. I work at a nonprofit and sometimes wish I had just hopped on my husband's for-profit insurance in order to have somewhat better benefits.

See when his open enrollment is. Weigh out what you pay towards benefits vs what you pay in copays, etc. sometimes it's worth it.

You could wait til after the baby is born, switch to his insurance (this is one of the life changing events that allow you to do so), and get the pump that route. Just thought I'd offer that suggestion

jwittwer · February 2016

Unfortunately my insurance does not cover a pump. My workplace, however, does have this great lactation program. With it, I get the pump, access to their lactation consultants, all accessories are free (think tubing, flanges, bottles, coolers), and if I am ever out of town, they have coolers shipped to my hotel and pay to transport breast milk back home to DH and the baby.

The program only gave me access to two pumps - PJ's Bliss or PJ's Comfort. The Comfort was a hospital grade pump, so I went with that.

No complaints here. While they're pricey, I think they're some of the best on the market! I included a link below so that others could check them out if they wanted to do so.

https://limerickpumps.corecommerce.com/PJ-s-Breast-Pumps/

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