Insurers' Breast Pump Plan Helps Babies Receive Mom's Best ...

Breast milk is especially critical for babies in neonatal intensive care units

More vulnerable babies are getting their mothers? medicine now that the state?s largest health insurer provides breast pumps to moms of infants in neonatal intensive care units.

Kimberly Morris of Murfreesboro appreciates the help. She used to rent a hospital-grade pump until BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee provided her with one. The device would have cost her more than $300.

?With triplets, I wanted to know exactly how much they are getting with each feeding,? Morris said. ?When I was nursing, I had no idea how much they were getting. That?s why I prefer the pump.?

Breast milk, which boosts a newborn?s ability to fight infection, is especially critical for babies in neonatal intensive care units. Mothers use the pumps so their milk can be given to premature babies through feeding tubes.

Dr. Judy Aschner, director of neonatology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children?s Hospital at Vanderbilt, and other physicians asked insurers to start buying the pumps.

?We approached all the insurers in 2007 with the idea that they were being penny wise and pound foolish by not providing our NICU moms with hospital-grade breast pumps or electric pumps,? Aschner said. ?They used to give them hand pumps, which is a joke. No mom could maintain milk supply for a baby in the nursery for weeks or months with the pumps that the insurance companies provided them.?

BlueCross BlueShield implemented the benefit this year for people on its employer-based plans. The insurer is considering adding the benefit for mothers covered by its TennCare Select subsidiary. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan already picks up the cost of the pumps for TennCare mothers with babies in NICU units. So does Amerigroup.

But not all employer-based policies automatically will pay for a pump if a baby is premature.

?If there is a physician?s order for it, we will usually,? said Dr. Janice Huckaby, market medical director for UnitedHealthcare in Tennessee. ?There might be some benefit plans that would have different language, but if we have a physician?s order for them as an outpatient, then it would be covered.?

Many benefits

Morris gave birth to Kate Elizabeth, Braden Lee and Brooks James in November. Brooks weighed only 1 pound, 15 ounces, while his brother and sister each weighed more than 3? pounds.

?They all had to go in the NICU,? their mother said. ?None of them had to go on a ventilator, which is pretty amazing, especially for the 1-pounder.?

Brooks has almost caught up with the other two. The children, who now weigh between 14 and 16 pounds each, still get breast milk supplemented with formula.

?I started pumping within 12 hours after I had them,? Morris said. ?I read so much about how you needed to start pumping very soon to get your milk supply built up, especially when you have multiples you are trying to feed. I pumped every two hours. It was pretty exhausting.?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast-feeding beyond the baby?s first birthday for as long as the mom and baby like. Mother?s milk has been shown to lower the risk of asthma, obesity, diabetes, leukemia and sudden infant death syndrome.

?Newborns that spend time in the NICU need the amazing health benefits and fortifying nutrients of breast milk both at the hospital and after returning home,? said Dr. Inga Himelright, chief medical officer at BlueCross.

BlueCross has the pump shipped directly to the mother from its manufacturer, Medela.

The Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care has made providing breast milk to premature babies a primary goal. But health experts are pushing for all mothers of newborns to nurse their babies or use pumps. The Metro Public Health Department this year launched a campaign to bring down barriers that prevent mothers from breast-feeding.

Said Aschner: ?Moms and grandmoms and employers in the community need to understand the benefits of facilitating breast-feeding. It?s not just for NICU babies. It is for all babies. The benefits are outstanding.? By Tom Wilemon, Nashville Tennesean

Source: http://sweet-kor.info/2011/07/insurers-breast-pump-plan-helps-babies-receive-moms-best-medicine/

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