As a breastfeeding mom, when my provider told me that Tricare would pay for my breast pump AND a small supply of breastmilk storage bags every month while I was breastfeeding, I was ecstatic.
When my son was born prematurely in April of 2019, I was even more thankful for this program because my son continually has had trouble gaining and maintaining weight. Since birth, he has needed additional calories added to some of his breastmilk. This means I would need to pump and store milk daily. To accomplish this, I have been pumping 2-3 times a day, which means I am easily going through 120 storage bags per month.
Through the program, Tricare was covering 90 bags per month — until they weren’t. (Respectively, you can purchase 80 Kinde bags at Target for $25.99.)
On July 12, 2019, my breastmilk bag supplier, Pumping Essentials, sent me a letter stating that effective immediately, they would not be able to fulfill any more orders for breastmilk storage bags that were to be covered by Tricare because Tricare had a significant amount of unpaid claims with their company.
They were unable to sustain the debt they were accruing on a promise from Tricare to eventually pay to provide us with what we needed. Additionally, this was not just unpaid claims from one company. Other breastfeeding moms using other companies, such as 1 Natural Way, had also received a similar notice that their company would also stop shipping breastfeeding milk storage bags.
On October 11, I received a response to my query to Pumping Essentials regarding the status of the breastmilk storage bag program. They acknowledged that since the suspension, Tricare has started to finally make an effort to pay on their claims in the new fiscal year. Pumping Essentials stated in the email that they hope Tricare can continue to make more timely payments so that they can relaunch the breastmilk storage bag program to Tricare families in the near future.
In the meantime, they also recommend that affected families contact Tricare to receive guidance to submit a claim for reimbursement so that families can continue to receive this covered benefit.
Is it just me, or are we as military families always waiting for something?
I’ve been living as a part of the military since I entered the service in 2010 and it seems like “hurry up and wait” is more than just something we said a lot while waiting on the plan of the day. Has your spouse ever had to wait until the new fiscal year to receive mission-essential training? Do you know anyone living in housing with subpar living conditions? Do you wait at the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) for your medications? Can you even get an appointment this month with your PCM?
While some things that we have to wait for are just a mere annoyance, I am appalled that Tricare thinks it’s okay to just stop paying claims with zero notice or guidance. We have many food-insecure military families out there and I don’t know very many enlisted families that are able to manage their finances without a strict budget. For some families, this unexpected uncovered expense meant that they were taking $30 out of their emergency savings – if they’re one of the lucky military families out there with savings.
We need to remind Tricare Humana who they serve – we are hardworking people. We have lost enough contractual benefits over the past decade. Tricare Humana, keep your promise.