It is your right!
Getting access to breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling under the authority of the Affordable Care Act
Our Goal
The goal is to spread awareness of your rights as a breastfeeding parent, crowdsource breastfeeding benefits from different health plans to celebrate the health plans doing right by families and provide transparency for those that are not.
What is the punchline of your rights as a breastfeeding parent?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires commercial health plans and Medicaid expansion plans in 38 states and DC to cover certain preventive services without any co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance.
These preventative services include breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
However, health plans require parents to see only the providers on their list, called “in-network providers”. If they have no lactation consultants or breast pump providers in network, your insurance company must cover services from an out-of-network provider without cost-sharing.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires commercial health plans and Medicaid expansion plans in 38 states and DC to cover certain preventive services without any co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance.
All new health plans must cover breastfeeding equipment and supplies “for the duration of breastfeeding” without cost-sharing, which means plans may not apply any co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible to these benefits. Breastfeeding equipment and supplies most commonly refers to a breast pump, which is a device that extracts milk from a lactating woman, and related accessories.
FAQ’s
What should I do to find out what my health insurance plan covers?
What should I say when I get on the phone?
What if I am on Medicaid?
How can I help others?
Information collected to submit your health plan coverage
What does your health plan cover for breastfeeding support and counseling?
What do they cover for breastfeeding equipment and supplies including breastpumps?
Is there a specific state that your health plan is located in?
Communicating the rights of breastfeeding parents • Communicating the rights of breastfeeding parents •
Communicating the rights of breastfeeding parents • Communicating the rights of breastfeeding parents •
Toolkit Assets
Carousel Pack
We've created some assets that can be easily shared on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Feel free to download these assets and tag us!
ZIP File
Social Writing
Here's example content that you can copy for use on social media. Simply click "Click to copy" and the entire text will be copied to your clipboard to be pasted wherever you want.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, the Affordable Care Act requires commercial health plans and Medicaid expansion plans in 38 states and DC to cover certain preventive services without any co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance.
These preventive services include breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling starting during pregnancy as long as you are breastfeeding - yay! The health care law requires all new health plans to cover “comprehensive prenatal and postnatal lactation support [and] counseling” starting during pregnancy as long as the parent is breastfeeding in some capacity.
All new health plans must cover breastfeeding equipment and supplies such as breast pumps “for the duration of breastfeeding” without cost-sharing, which means plans may not apply any co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible to these benefits.
Check out the National Women’s Law Center breastfeeding toolkit for a script to call your health plan to know your rights. Based on what you learn, submit your health plan information via www.simplifed.com/itisyourright and we will update it weekly on our website for people to learn from your experience.
IT IS YOUR RIGHT under the ACA to get access to breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling starting during pregnancy as long as you are breastfeeding! Check out this site here to learn how to call your health plan to learn your rights and shareit with others!
How can I get more involved?
If you are interested in getting more involved or want to partner as part of this movement, please email our team: team@simplifed.us and we will set up a time to chat!
