By Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD
We are entering what we hope will be the final stretch to pass the pump bill, S.682 / H.1317, An Act Improving Access to Breast Pumps, during this legislative session. This bill will support vulnerable infants and their families across the Commonwealth for years to come—and we cannot do it without you.
What does the bill do?
It requires insurance coverage for multi-user (“hospital grade”) breast pumps, replacement parts, and expert lactation support for mothers of newborns in NICUs or with medical conditions that prevent nursing.
We’ll be calling on supporters at three critical moments in the coming months. Your participation can help make this bill law.
How You Can Help
NOW: Write to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
- Senator Cindy Friedman, Chair Cindy.Friedman@masenate.gov (617) 722-1432
- Representative John Lawn, Chair John.Lawn@mahouse.gov (617) 722-2430
- Thank them for their past support.
- Urge them to again report the bill out favorably.
- Remind them that CHIA has already reviewed the bill and concluded that it is valuable and financially worthwhile (see text box below for more information on CHIA).
Write your own letter or download one of our templates, copy the text into an email, customize it, and email to Senator Friedman and Representative Lawn.
Letter templates to download: General Support or Personal Story
NEXT: When the pump bill is reported out to House and Senate Ways and Means Committees
- Write to the members of those committees urging them to move the bill forward.
- This is often where good bills get stuck, and where this bill got stuck in the last session. Let’s keep the momentum going.
FINALLY: When the pump bill goes to the full legislature
- Email or call your own Representative and Senator to urge them to vote YES.
- Phone calls make a real difference at this stage—don’t skip them!
We will provide templates for each step so you can easily customize and send your messages.
Please cc advocacy@massbreastfeeding.org on any emails or letters you send. That helps us track outreach and follow up.
Why It Matters
Every year, over 6,000 babies in Massachusetts are born preterm—more than 9% of all births. For these fragile infants, mother’s milk can be life-saving, and pumping early and often is the only way many parents can provide it.
Multi-user electric breast pumps are essential—but they are expensive and not equitably accessible. Low-income families and families of color face the greatest barriers, exacerbating health disparities that already exist.
This bill will change that.
We can pass this bill this session—but only if we all act. Stay tuned, speak up, and spread the word.
According to the website of the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), “CHIA evaluates the impact of health benefit mandate bills referred by Massachusetts legislative committees. These evaluations provide a medical efficacy analysis and an estimate of the effect on health insurance costs.” Last year, the Health Care Financing Committee requested an independent review by CHIA. The report found what we already knew: the bill is valuable, effective, and financially sound, with an estimated cost of just $0.04–$0.08 per insured member per month.
Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD, has been working in maternal and child health for 35 years as an educator, researcher, advocate, and writer. In addition to serving on the board of Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, she is past president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and is the founding director emerita of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, which provides safe donor milk to hospitals and families throughout the northeastern US. Learn more about her on her LactSpeak profile.
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