Health Insurance and Breastfeeding - Will Your Health Insurance Cover Your Breastfeeding Expenses?

If you plan to breastfeed your child you will be saving hundreds of dollars in formula milk but there are also many expenses associated with breast feeding and not all health insurances cover these costs. Read below to find out if your health insurance will cover your breastfeeding costs.

Health insurance and breastfeeding - What you need to know about your coverage.

It is often easy to get confused about what your health insurance covers, so always check with your insurance company for further information.

Your insurance plan representative should be able to explain what expenses your health insurance will cover but most insurance companies have a policy handbook that will clearly indicate what is covered by your insurance.

When you call your health insurance company ask for a copy of this handbook or contact your human resources department to see if they can help you obtain one.

Take the time to read the booklet carefully and if you have any concerns or specific questions, contact your company with your inquiry. (The number is usually found at the back of your card.)

Health insurance and breastfeeding - Do your home work before calling your company.

Before you call your insurance company gather information about the products and services you will need. The more specific you are in your questions, the more accurate the answers from the insurance representative will be.

The Internet is usually a good place to start your research, but you can also ask friends who have recently had a baby for help. Your doctor might also be able to recommend products and services that might be helpful when breastfeeding.

Once you have an idea about what you need, for example if you plan to buy an electric pump to express your breast milk, research the model you would like to purchase and when you call the insurance company ask if the model you like is covered by your insurance.

Health insurance and breastfeeding - Questions you should ask your insurance agency

Once you have a general idea of what your breastfeeding needs will be, it is time to call your insurance.

Check out if the information you have gathered from your policy manual is accurate and ask specific questions about what your restrictions are. If you plan to get a breast pump check if your insurance covers a hospital rental or a purchase.

You can also check if your insurance covers visits to a lactation consultant and whether these visits have to be preapproved by the company.

Remember that there are cases where , your health insurance will cover the costs of a breast pump for medical reasons only.

When it comes to lactation consultants, it is a good idea to check if your doctor or lactation consultant is in the network and ask if there are any deductibles, co-pays and how much you will need to pay.

Finally check if you have a benefit cap, benefit limitation or maximum benefit.

In simple terms, there are cases where your insurance company will set a limit on the amount of money they will cover when it comes to your medical expenses. This means that your insurance company might cover your breast feeding expenses up to a specific amount only.

Since when you are pregnant you will definitely need insurance coverage, find out what is your an annual benefit cap ,( that is the maximum amount your insurance will cover during that year) and your lifetime maximum benefit, ( that is the highest amount of money your insurance will pay to cover your expenses.)

It is very important to learn more about benefit caps because once you exceed these amounts, your insurance will not cover your costs irrespective of your condition and needs.

For more information about the questions you should ask your insurance rep click here

Health insurance and breastfeeding - always double check
On a final note, always double check with your insurance company before making a purchase, especially if you are going to buy something expensive. Remember that you might have misunderstood what the representative was telling you the first time you called, so when you double check you are making sure that your expenses will be covered.

It is also a good idea to write down what your representative tells you on the phone, so that you can refer to the conversation even after time has passed, and make sure you note down the representative's name and the date when the conversation took place for future reference.

Works cited
Coverage questions you should ask your Insurance company www.medelabreastfeedingus.com