Mom to Be Monday: Breast Pump Covered By Insurance

Seriously – who doesn’t love saving money!?!?

I originally had the Medela Pump In Style Advanced – The Metro Bag on my baby registry. However, I found out through the grapevine by talking to friends and family that due to the Affordable Care Act, many insurance plans now cover breast pumps!!  What a huge savings, considering many of these breast pumps that come with all the accessories can retail upwards of $250 to $350!  Even though I wouldn’t have been paying for it myself and it would have most likely been purchased off the baby registry, by taking it off the registry, I was able to get many of my other necessities as gifts instead!

Medela Pump In Style Advanced Double Electric Breast Pump – The Metro Bag

Now, by no means am I an insurance expert.  And I can tell you that each insurance company will be different  and may cover different amounts. Some may require a written prescription from your healthcare provider while others do not.  Some will cover the cost of the pump right up front, while others allow you to order your pump from any retailer and then submit for reimbursement.  I personally have an Independence Blue Cross Personal Choice plan and getting my breast pump was seamless!!

I started out by getting a prescription from my provider, which I ended up not needing!  But I thought it was good to have just in case, since I hadn’t done much research yet at that point.  Next, instead of calling my insurance company directly – I had actually gotten an advertisement from Babies R Us talking about their Breast Pump Solutions program.  They made it sound so easy, I had to call!

Basically, Breast Pump Solutions is a program that was developed by Babies R Us along with National Rehab (NR) to help make the process easier for moms to get their breast pumps through their health insurance.  All I had to do was call Breast Pump Solutions at 1-855-567-8669, give them my insurance information, and they took care of the rest!  They sent me some paperwork to sign and then the breast pump was shipped directly to my house from Babies R Us free of charge!

Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breastpump Starter Set

Here’s what my insurance specifically covered:

Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breastpump Starter Set, which included a portable electric pump with 2-Phase expression technology, two medium breastshields, two breastmilk bottles, lids, and power adaptor.

I was also given the option to pay extra if I wanted to upgrade to the Medela Breast Pump Tote or the Medela Breast Pump Backpack, but I chose just to get the basic starter set.  Reason?  I figured I could register for any additional accessories – AND I would rather go shopping for a cuter bag to carry around all these breast pump supplies!!!  If you have any suggestions for cute (and affordable) breast pump bags….please let me know!!

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