I do not think insurance needs to pay for pumps for healthy moms and healthy
babies, but it sure makes sense for them to pay for pumps when one or the
other is not perfectly healthy.  I have babies not feeding well because of
high jaundice, prematurity, infection, etc.  I occasionally have a mom who
because of illness or medication cannot breastfeed.  Just this week I have a
mom on cardiac and hypertension treatment risky for the baby.  Because her
cardiologist feels she will be weaned from these drugs in a relatively short
time, she is pumping and dumping.  What a dedicated woman.  For her I think
insurance should be willing to pay.  For our moms who have babies in NICU, we
provide pumps at no charge as long as the baby is a patient, but the pump
must be returned when the baby is discharged.  (We do not have enough to do
otherwise).  Most of these moms need a pump for a longer period.  Insurance
companies would really benefit by supporting breastfeeding in these
situations by paying a small pump rental fee.  The mom has already endured
huge expenses.
Judi Hall

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html