Breast Pump covered by Health insurance?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hi.. I am about to rejoin work after my maternity leave and I am wondering whether to express milk for my baby or try to give him powdered milk in my absence...

I have heard that health insurance covers a basic pump.

Does anyone know more about this?..

Is it mother's or child's insurance who covers? Basic or Complementary?

and.. is it covered, like maternity, above the deductible? or included in deductible?

Thanks!

2
I guess by basic, you mean something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-Aven...item3373679713

24 pounds incl. worldwide shipping. I got one for my wife not knowing that insurance could pay.

If you want an electric one, Amazon will ship this one tax free

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medela-Swing...ds=breast+pump

85.49 before tax + 6.49 p&p.

There's also a cheaper one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medela-Singl...la+breast+pump

Amazon stocks products from other manufacturers as well, but will not always ship worldwide (they wont ship Philips, for example).

3
Quite a talked about subject on the forum.

See if this one ever got sold perhaps? http://www.englishforum.ch/items-sal...tras-sale.html

By all accounts, it is from a smoke and pet free home Which is great, so you know nobody has smoked wearing them and the pets haven't been sucked of milk. The original owner though I assume has.

4
I just heard from my midwife that you can get the rental on a breast pump covered by basic medical insurance...

You need to get a prescription for it from the doctor.

Other than that, not sure exactly how the process works (not quite at that stage yet), but if you work it out, let us know.

5
Easy, you go to the next pharmacie and ask if they have some for rent.

6
Double check with the insurance if they will pay the full amount. (Talking about a full electric pump). Mine did not, they paid a fixed sum per day, and I had to pay the difference to the pharmacy. I also had to buy the kit to actually use it (the plastic cups, tubes etc that you want to be new).

However if the OP is just looking for a basic hand pump, just buy one, they shouldn't be too expensive.

7
Ours were not covered by insurance.We have a basic health insurance as well.I would say its best to check beforehand.

8
The midwife told me today that basic health insurance covers the first 35CHF of a breast pump. Luckily I only ordered a cheap one (£25 as mentioned above) to test the concept

9
They start at CHF 30.00 and go up to CHF 250.00 (at least here:

http://www.nuggihuus.ch/Essen-Trinke...%5Boffset%5D=0

And you can buy them even at Riccardo: http://www.ricardo.ch/search/index?S...temCondition=2

10
Swiss ripoff galore.

God bless the internet :-)

edit:

http://www.nuggihuus.ch/LANSINOHR-Ha...l?group=546601

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lansinoh-Man...oh+breast+pump

= 26.3 CHF

http://www.nuggihuus.ch/MEDELA-Hand-...l?group=546601

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medela-Harmo...medela+harmony

= 51 CHF

http://www.nuggihuus.ch/TOMMEE-TIPPE...l?group=546601

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommee-Tippe...pee+breastpump

= 20.8 CHF

http://www.nuggihuus.ch/PHILIPS-AVEN...l?group=546601

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-AVEN...ent+breastpump

= 29.6 CHF

11
Swica basic insurance covers 2 CHF per day to rent a pump.

12
Do you know whether this is included in the deductible or above it?

13
Just some extra info: some insurances will reimburse you 200CHF if you breastfeed for at least 3 months. You will need to fill out a form with a signature from your midwife or doctor.

14
To clarify a couple of bits...

The 200 CHF for breastfeeding is with supplementary insurance rather than basic insurance.

I have confirmed that the coverage towards a breast pump does come out of the deductible.

15
Yes it comes out of your deductible (not the childs), and you need a prescription for renting to be reimbursed. However, as others mentioned the whole amount is not reimbursed, only a part.

Just to add - even if you are successfully BF, if you haven't been expressing you may not express enough to be able to feed your baby - every woman is different in this regard. Expressing is not mechanical, and is less efficient than BF.

16
So true. I know many women who just couldn't manage pumping when they went back to work. It's a shame that maternity leave is so short here as it makes breastfeeding a lot more of a challenge. For me, I had to employ a lot of strategies to make pumping work as it was contributing to me getting mastitis.