Health Insurance Coverage for Lactation Support: my letter to the Governor

I wrote California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a letter earlier this week. AB 513 is still sitting on his desk, awaiting his signature. Hopefully, we can get his attention in the midst of the state’s budget crisis and persuade him to sign this important bill into law!

AB 513 will require health insurance coverage for consultation with an IBCLC and the provision of breast pumps to mothers who need them. If you live in California and you support this bill, please send a letter of your own, soon! You can find information on the bill and a sample letter at the California WIC Association website.

Here is the text of my letter (minus the letterhead, signature, etc), adapted from the sample letter.

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I am writing in strong support of Assemblyman de Leon’s bill AB 513 which is awaiting your signature. This bill will improve support for breastfeeding by requiring health care service plans and health insurers to include coverage for:

• lactation consultation by an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
• the provision of quality breast pumps, as part of their health care service plans or insurance policies that provide maternity coverage.

I, personally, have experienced the tremendous value of these measures. After my son was born, we had difficulty with breastfeeding due to medical complications. I struggled to breastfeed for a month, delaying seeing an IBCLC because it was not covered by health insurance. I finally saw a lactation consultant, paying out of pocket. She did a thorough assessment and taught me how to improve his sucking and increase my milk supply using a breast pump several times per day. The improvement was almost immediate.  Now, 9 months later, I am still fully breastfeeding without any problems.

There are so many more mothers with similar difficulties that could be eliminated with just one visit to an IBCLC, but the cost prevents them from seeking help. By enabling mothers to breastfeed who would otherwise be unable to, this bill will have a great impact on our nation’s health and save health care costs.

Exclusive breastfeeding for three months has been shown to reduce health care costs for infants in the first year of life alone by up to $475, compared to non-breastfed infants. The benefits extend to mothers, too, with breastfeeding reducing the risk of breast cancer. Lactation consultation is an essential investment in these health benefits for women and our children.

I respectfully request that you sign this important measure, AB 513, into law.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you are writing (or have written) a letter! Has anyone written letters on behalf of breastfeeding legislation in your state? Did you get a response, and did the measure pass? I’d love to hear about it?

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Sign it, Arnold!