The breast pump industry is booming, thanks to Obamacare. :)

[Interested in a new line of work?]

Excerpts from Washington Post article, link to artle below.

"The legislators who drafted Obamacare wrestled with cosmic issues of health and spending, but here’s one consequence they didn’t foresee: a boom in demand for breast pumps that has left some retailers scrambling to keep up.

Tucked within the Affordable Care Act is a provision requiring insurance companies to cover breast pumps and visits to lactation consultants at no cost to the patient.

Other mandated benefits, including the requirement to pay for contraceptives, drew far more attention and controversy. But when health insurance plans began resetting Jan. 1 under the new terms, it was the breast- pump clause that took off with consumers.

“We’re getting a lot of calls from prospective mothers and new mothers,” said Bruce Frishman, president of New Hampshire Pharmacy and Medical Equipment, a  supplier based in the District. “We’ve started stocking a lot more pumps that would be purchased through insurance.”

Yummy Mummy, a New York boutique that specializes in breast pumps and accessories, is in the process of acquiring a warehouse and call center to accommodate the increased demand. Specialty suppliers like Yummy Mummy stand to benefit from the change if they manage to get on insurers’ lists of approved distributors. Women who might have bought a  breast pump at a local retailer are now likely to turn to their insurance plan.

Administrators of insurance plans still have questions about how to best implement the rule. No state has ever required insurance companies to cover the benefit, although Louisiana did convene a study panel on the issue in 2002, according to the National Center for State Legislatures.

“This was a medical service that is advantageous for both women and babies, so we thought it should be seriously considered,” said Judy Waxman, vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center, who testified on the subject before the federal panel that set the guidelines.

“Turns out,” she said, “that they decided to seriously consider it.”

Thirty-one states already require Medicaid, for the low-income, to cover breast pumps."

[ON CONSULTANTS] "Health-insurance companies have also begun recruiting lactation consultants to join their networks so they can comply with the mandate to cover lactation support and counseling.

In late July, Aetna sent lactation consultants a letter noting that the company was expanding its “network of international board certified lactation consultants” and inviting providers to join.

Some lactation consultants, however, have declined these entreaties, saying that the reimbursement rates insurance companies have offered are significantly lower than  the amount they charge for a consultation.

“We as a company have decided not to sign up as a preferred provider,” said Diana West, of Mahala Mom, a lactation consulting company in Northwest New Jersey. West’s consultations, which tend to run between 90 minutes and two hours, cost about $200 depending on the location. Insurance companies have made reimbursement offers that hover around $80, she said. “This is a very big obstacle that my industry is really abuzz about,” she added.