Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) announced that her bill, the TRICARE Moms Improvement Act, was signed into law by President Obama. The legislation was included as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4435).
The new law makes breastfeeding supplies, services, and counseling available to military family members covered under the federal TRICARE health insurance program. It brings parity to these families, as these services are already a required benefit in private health insurance plans thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Capps led the charge to include that provision for mothers in the ACA.
TRICARE is the health care program for active and retired service members and their families.
Earlier this year, Capps introduced the original bill, H.R. 4492 in the House, and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill introduced a similar bill in the Senate.
It was simply not fair that mothers and children who receive coverage under the federal TRICARE insurance program did not receive the same access to care that civilian moms do," Capps said. "This new law will change that, giving military families access to the same services that are available to those who have private insurance, and ensuring our military moms have the resources they need to feed and care for their newborns if they chose to breastfeed."
Most pregnant women in the United States intend to breastfeed their infants and initiate breastfeeding at birth, but the majority of these women stop breastfeeding while their child is still an infant. The National Immunization Survey of 2009 found that 76 percent of new mothers began breastfeeding, with 47 percent continuing to breastfeed at six months, and only 26 percent breastfeeding at 12 months. The Institute of Medicine has identified that gaps in skilled support and instruction in breastfeeding and limited breastfeeding supports for women returning to work, including access to lactation pumps, are critical factors influencing whether a new mother initiates and continues breastfeeding.
The amendment had broad support from nearly 40 organizations, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Women's Law Center, the American Academy of Nursing, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of University Women, the American Nurses Association, the Business and Professional Women's Foundation, the California WIC Association, the March of Dimes, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Partnership for Women & Families, the National WIC Association, and the Service Women's Action Network.
This is the fifth Capps bill signed into law by President Obama during the 113th Congress.