My wife is going to be having a child in the next month and we are now scurrying to make sure we have everything ready for when she delivers the baby. I was unaware that breast pump rentals must be covered by insurance. I’ll have to check with my insurance company to make sure that we do not have a grandfathered plan so that we do not have to worry about paying anything for a breast pump machine.
Anyone looking for an electric single or double breast pump through insurance. Please go through website Aeroflow.com. They do all of the calling and paper work for you. You just fill out a few questions regarding your name, phone number, address, name of your insurance, and member policy number. Then pick a pump from their site. Gets delivered right to your door. No sooner than 60 days prior to your delivery date. A breast pump is covered with each pregnancy. Every 30 to 60 days through your email they send a link to summit for a resupply kit of parts and storage bottles for your pump of no charge to you. I’ve had two babies recently. One in 2015 and one 2016. I’ve received the Medea pump in style starter set double electric pump with each pregnancy and 7 kits so far. All the supplies you ever need they’ll replenish when need be. I use one pump to pump at work and one pump I keep set up at home. I tell everyone I know that’s expecting about my convenient great experience with them. So check out Aeroflow.com and skip the stress. Let someone else do the work for you.
Oh, a topic that is quite applicable to me right now! I just had the company that I rent my hospital grade pump from submit claims for each month that I have rented. I am waiting to see what my insurance company does with them. They gave me the impression that they would deny my claims, but that I could utilize their appeal process, since a customer service representative apparently misinformed me that the pump coverage is “per calendar year” not “per pregnancy,” despite having a prescription from my provider stating that it is a medical necessity. I have even found in the insurance company’s literature online that the coverage is “per calendar year.”
Some background on my situation…My baby was born in September. Aware of the Affordable Care Act, I had called months prior and was given a list of “in-network” medical supply companies that could provide a Medela double electric pump at no cost to me. I called and had everything all set up, including a prescription from my provider stating that I needed a double electric pump. But I could not order until 30 days within my due date. So September 1st rolled around and I faxed all of the necessary information to the medical supply company, assuming all went through. I got an automated message on my voicemail to call the company because they needed more information to complete my order. When I called, they said that their contract had changed with my insurance company and they were no longer “in-network.”
So, another call to my insurance company. I was given a list of local and non-local “in-network” medical supply companies to call. Most did not carry breastpumps and others did not have electric pumps, let alone the Medela double electric pump that I was hoping for. So, more calls to my insurance company and more calls to medical supply companies. FINALLY, I spoke with a customer service representative from my insurance company who STAYED ON THE LINE and had a three way call with myself and the company on the other side of the country that apparently was going to come through for me. By this time, I was getting nervous as my due date was fast approaching. Miracle of all miracles, I faxed this new company all of the necessary information. And I even had a NAME and DIRECT LINE for the representative at the company that helped me. But no pump arrived… Finally, I was in the hospital and had an emergency C-section after developing HELLP syndrome after a completely normal pregnancy. Lying sleep deprived in my hospital bed, I called the company on the other side of the country to be sure that my pump would be on my front porch when I went home. “OH, there was a problem with billing my insurance company? Thanks for letting me know… BUT, it will be there when I get home from the hospital because you will rush it to my home? Thank goodness!” Of course, no pump was waiting for me when I got home! My Mom, who flew out to help us in our crisis birth situation, went to the local grocery store to buy an overpriced single electric pump for me. I was engorged, hormonal, and my baby would not latch…AND sure enough, my pump arrived a week later. But my baby was already losing weight…and my milk supply was nearly gone from using a nipple shield WITHOUT AN ADEQUATE PUMP to maintain my supply.
After trying everything to get my baby to latch including visits with lactation consultants and specialists (the later which were quite expensive), it was clear that I would have to choose to exclusively pump or give my baby formula. I chose the first. Reading my pump instruction manual while pumping, I read the unfortunate sentence, “Do not use this pump if you plan to pump exclusively…” SO…I contacted my lactation consultant who referred me to a medical supply company in that town to rent a hospital grade pump. And thankfully, they had just gotten one returned that day! The employee would fine tune it and I could pick it up that day! Thank goodness. $60 a month seemed like a small price to pay at that point. As if we had not been through enough, after making the hour trip to get my new rental pump, I got home and read the instructions, set it up, and tried it. A few minutes into my pumping session, ERROR! I called Medela, who stated that my new pump needed to be sent back to Medela for repair. I spoke with the company that I rented the pump from and she said, “Hmmmm…I thought there might be something wrong with it” (although she failed to mention that). Several days later, the company delivered a new working pump to me. I think the employee realized I was at the end of my rope and could not physically or emotionally make the trip through the mountain pass in the middle of winter to pick it up myself.
Life has thankfully slowed down a bit. My pump works, my milk supply is plentiful, and my baby is plump and healthy. Looking back, I truly think my story would have been different if I had purchased a pump myself. As a first-time mother whose birth situation was less than ideal, I could have done without the extra stress and time required to communicate with my insurance company and medical supply companies. And now, I am still stuck with the financial burden of renting the pump that I need.
Thank you for reading my story. It is clearly something that I still harbor some feelings of bitterness about. But sharing my story helps to lift that weight from me and move on!
My wife is going to be having a child in the next month and we are now scurrying to make sure we have everything ready for when she delivers the baby. I was unaware that breast pump rentals must be covered by insurance. I’ll have to check with my insurance company to make sure that we do not have a grandfathered plan so that we do not have to worry about paying anything for a breast pump machine.
Anyone looking for an electric single or double breast pump through insurance. Please go through website Aeroflow.com. They do all of the calling and paper work for you. You just fill out a few questions regarding your name, phone number, address, name of your insurance, and member policy number. Then pick a pump from their site. Gets delivered right to your door. No sooner than 60 days prior to your delivery date. A breast pump is covered with each pregnancy. Every 30 to 60 days through your email they send a link to summit for a resupply kit of parts and storage bottles for your pump of no charge to you. I’ve had two babies recently. One in 2015 and one 2016. I’ve received the Medea pump in style starter set double electric pump with each pregnancy and 7 kits so far. All the supplies you ever need they’ll replenish when need be. I use one pump to pump at work and one pump I keep set up at home. I tell everyone I know that’s expecting about my convenient great experience with them. So check out Aeroflow.com and skip the stress. Let someone else do the work for you.
Oh, a topic that is quite applicable to me right now! I just had the company that I rent my hospital grade pump from submit claims for each month that I have rented. I am waiting to see what my insurance company does with them. They gave me the impression that they would deny my claims, but that I could utilize their appeal process, since a customer service representative apparently misinformed me that the pump coverage is “per calendar year” not “per pregnancy,” despite having a prescription from my provider stating that it is a medical necessity. I have even found in the insurance company’s literature online that the coverage is “per calendar year.”
Some background on my situation…My baby was born in September. Aware of the Affordable Care Act, I had called months prior and was given a list of “in-network” medical supply companies that could provide a Medela double electric pump at no cost to me. I called and had everything all set up, including a prescription from my provider stating that I needed a double electric pump. But I could not order until 30 days within my due date. So September 1st rolled around and I faxed all of the necessary information to the medical supply company, assuming all went through. I got an automated message on my voicemail to call the company because they needed more information to complete my order. When I called, they said that their contract had changed with my insurance company and they were no longer “in-network.”
So, another call to my insurance company. I was given a list of local and non-local “in-network” medical supply companies to call. Most did not carry breastpumps and others did not have electric pumps, let alone the Medela double electric pump that I was hoping for. So, more calls to my insurance company and more calls to medical supply companies. FINALLY, I spoke with a customer service representative from my insurance company who STAYED ON THE LINE and had a three way call with myself and the company on the other side of the country that apparently was going to come through for me. By this time, I was getting nervous as my due date was fast approaching. Miracle of all miracles, I faxed this new company all of the necessary information. And I even had a NAME and DIRECT LINE for the representative at the company that helped me. But no pump arrived… Finally, I was in the hospital and had an emergency C-section after developing HELLP syndrome after a completely normal pregnancy. Lying sleep deprived in my hospital bed, I called the company on the other side of the country to be sure that my pump would be on my front porch when I went home. “OH, there was a problem with billing my insurance company? Thanks for letting me know… BUT, it will be there when I get home from the hospital because you will rush it to my home? Thank goodness!” Of course, no pump was waiting for me when I got home! My Mom, who flew out to help us in our crisis birth situation, went to the local grocery store to buy an overpriced single electric pump for me. I was engorged, hormonal, and my baby would not latch…AND sure enough, my pump arrived a week later. But my baby was already losing weight…and my milk supply was nearly gone from using a nipple shield WITHOUT AN ADEQUATE PUMP to maintain my supply.
After trying everything to get my baby to latch including visits with lactation consultants and specialists (the later which were quite expensive), it was clear that I would have to choose to exclusively pump or give my baby formula. I chose the first. Reading my pump instruction manual while pumping, I read the unfortunate sentence, “Do not use this pump if you plan to pump exclusively…” SO…I contacted my lactation consultant who referred me to a medical supply company in that town to rent a hospital grade pump. And thankfully, they had just gotten one returned that day! The employee would fine tune it and I could pick it up that day! Thank goodness. $60 a month seemed like a small price to pay at that point. As if we had not been through enough, after making the hour trip to get my new rental pump, I got home and read the instructions, set it up, and tried it. A few minutes into my pumping session, ERROR! I called Medela, who stated that my new pump needed to be sent back to Medela for repair. I spoke with the company that I rented the pump from and she said, “Hmmmm…I thought there might be something wrong with it” (although she failed to mention that). Several days later, the company delivered a new working pump to me. I think the employee realized I was at the end of my rope and could not physically or emotionally make the trip through the mountain pass in the middle of winter to pick it up myself.
Life has thankfully slowed down a bit. My pump works, my milk supply is plentiful, and my baby is plump and healthy. Looking back, I truly think my story would have been different if I had purchased a pump myself. As a first-time mother whose birth situation was less than ideal, I could have done without the extra stress and time required to communicate with my insurance company and medical supply companies. And now, I am still stuck with the financial burden of renting the pump that I need.
Thank you for reading my story. It is clearly something that I still harbor some feelings of bitterness about. But sharing my story helps to lift that weight from me and move on!