Read the original Slate article here.

Insurance Companies Should Be Investing More, Not Less, in Breastfeeding

by Kimberly Seals Allers

Breastfeeding is hard enough. We live in the only industrialized nation that doesn’t offer a federal paid maternity leave policy. Even worse, about 25 percent of mothers in the United States return to work just 10 days after giving birth. That means millions of mamas turn to breast pumps to provide their infants with the optimal nutrition for their first year of life and to finish the job our society won’t allow us to complete with our bodies and babies alone.

That makes access to pumps a critical part of maternal and infant health. And a key factor in the nation’s public health landscape writ large. With so much at stake, why would Anthem, a health insurance company that covers more than 40 million people in 15 states, cut the reimbursement rate for breast pumps by 44 percent, just months after the CEO announced record-breaking profits?

On April 1, Anthem health insurance, which operates as Blue Cross Blue Shield in many states, slashed the amount durable medical providers will receive for the breast pumps they provide directly to mothers from $169 to $95. The pumps mothers can access via Anthem will be of a lower quality in terms of motor type, pump strength, filter, and other factors. Lesser quality pumps don’t extract as much milk from the breast or can become incredibly painful, which will inevitably decrease the mother’s milk supply while increasing frustration and disappointment and cutting short the breastfeeding relationship.

In response to my queries about the change, Anthem issued the following statement:

Anthem recognizes the positive health benefits that breastfeeding can have on mothers and their newborns, and we are committed to ensuring new mothers have the information, tools and support they need to successfully breastfeed their newborns. The recent adjustment to the fee schedule for all durable medical equipment, including breast pumps, will not impact the ability of any new mother to access a high-quality, standard double-electric breast pump from our contracted medical suppliers.

However, there was no further information on how Anthem is defining “high quality,” and there was no response to my specific question about whether a physician or medical director was consulted on the policy change.

Why would Anthem cut the reimbursement rate for breast pumps by 44 percent, just months after the

“More than 85 percent of breastfeeding mothers express breast milk, most of them using a pump for an extended period of time. A lower reimbursement rate for common electric breast pumps could make it difficult, if not near impossible, for moms to have access to the breast pump most suited for their needs,” says Tina Sherman, campaign director at MomsRising, an advocacy organization that has a campaign to pressure Anthem to reverse its decision.

Read the rest of the blog post here.

Learn more about advocate and author, Kimberly Seals Allers here.