Rachel Easter, Intern

When my sister Leah found out she was pregnant with her second child, she knew that she wanted to breast feed the new baby for a year. She planned to go back to work when her daughter was only 4 months old, so she needed a breast pump. In December of 2012, she called her insurance company to find out what kind of coverage the company would provide. During that first call, Leah was given the run around. Everyone she spoke to told her it was not their responsibility to cover her breast pump, she should call someone else. After several useless calls, Leah gave up.

Six months later I started an internship at the National Women’s Law Center. I learned that the health care law requires insurance companies to provide coverage of breast pumps for women without co-pays or deductibles. However, my sister, like many women, still didn’t know about this part of the law, so I decided to give her a call. We talked through her situation and I directed her to some NWLC resources, including the NLWC toolkit, that could help her get the coverage she deserves.