Lots of good data in your letter, though I’m not sure how favorably an
insurance company would respond to the request.

Your letter raised an interesting question, though:  in a more general
sense, could we use insurance companies to help promote breastfeeding?  I
believe the answer to that is yes, if it is put to them in terms they
understand.

The key to getting the insurance companies to pay attention is the strong
argument you make regarding prevention.  Breastfeeding prevents a variety of
illnesses.  But more than good scientific studies, what needs to be done is
to show that the preventative aspect of nursing reduces health risks at an
actuarial level.  In other words, if an actuary could assess reduced risk
from the use of breast milk (and an actuary would be interested in the
combined effect of all of the benefits of breast milk working together in
the population as a whole), then one could approach the insurance industry
and say "breastfed babies are a better risk.  We should get an insurance
discount just as non-smokers get".  And an insurance discount for
breastfeeding might have a significant impact on the number of women who do
it.

In this scenario, you could also then argue that you need the insurance
company to cover your breast milk prescription, because their own actuarial
tables show that it is necessary.  The "breastfeeding discount" on premiums
would not cost the insurance companies anything; the cost for the ‘lifestyle
choice’ of using formula would be absorbed by those who choose not to
breastfeed.

Anyone know if such actuarial data already exist?

Carolyn Shannon

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