Medela has been in the news recently, well, quietly anyway. The breast pump giant will stop production this year on its Personal Double Pump (model 57038 or MY57038). 
This model was manufactured specifically for sale through insurance companies which are a huge part of medal’s business with the Affordable Care Act in play.
Complaints have plagued this pump, however, claiming that it doesn’t pump as efficiently as the models sold through normal retail.
Even though the pump will be phased out after 2015, it will still be available on shelves and can be purchased through Amazon and Insurance carriers.
What the Affordable Care Act has to do with Medela
Bloomberg Business wrote an interesting article recently about Medela and how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2013 has affected the company and it’s sales (mostly for the good). The ACA requires that insurance carriers cover the cost of a breast pump but it also set a max price on the cost of the pump.
According to the Medela rep quoted in the Bloomberg article, the profit margin of the pumps sold through insurance verse retail is about one-third lower. That’s an interesting thing to consider. One of Medela’s top of the line pumps-Pump in Style Advanced – runs for nearly $360. The price listed for the Personal Double Pump model that is being phased out is $111 on Amazon.
According to Medela, the pump that insurance typically covers is actually a scaled down version of their expensive Pump in Style Advance pump.
==>Click here to read my review on what I consider Medela’s best breast pump<==
Insurance Pumps Deemed not as Good as Retail Pumps
The common complaint about the Medela Personal Double pump women receive through insurance is that it is not efficient enough at pulling milk down.
Personal Double Pump as seen on Amazon
If you look up the Personal Double Pump Model 57038 on Amazon, you will see it has a 2.5-star rating with numerous negative review comments.
Quite a shocking difference when compared with it’s the closest model the Advanced Personal Double model 57065 which has 4.5 stars and great feedback (it runs for not too much more. Amazon has it for $140).
The Bloomberg article had an interesting quote from a woman who pointed out that most mothers know insurance pumps are not made equal to retail –
After her son was born, Philadelphia attorney Leah Katz attended a lactation group meeting for help expressing milk. “When I complained that I wasn’t getting much, the first question everyone asked was whether I was using the insurance pump, because it wasn’t as effective,” she says. Katz wound up paying $360 out of pocket for a Medela to use at home and an additional $80 a month to rent a hospital-grade version for the office, to get through five pumping sessions each day and another in the middle of the night.
Medela has said that the pumps sold through insurance carriers are identical to those sold through retail. They said the “motor is the same but some other components may be different”.
But the pump motor is clearly different. The main difference with the Personal Double versus the Pump in Style or even the Advanced Personal Double is that the Personal Double Pump does not have Medela’s 2 phase Expression Technology that they boast about in their pumps.
The 2 Phase Expression Technology is said to yield 18% more milk than pumps without it. See Medela’s side by side comparison of the pumps on their site here.
Medela has defended the pump and pointed out that it is set to phase out after 2015. They want to focus their product portfolio on the 2 Phase Expression Technology.
So Does ACA Lower Prices but Inadvertently Lower Quality too?
The Affordable Care Act certainly was a game changer in the Breast Pump market. Medela, who captures roughly 80% of the Breast Pump market share, had to tweak the way it does business.
The ACA requires that insurance carriers get pumps through durable medical equipment providers. This left mostly hospitals and major retailers and cut out small retail.
But the major piece of the law that changed everything was the max price that was set by the ACA.
This has left manufacturers pressured to low prices. According to the Bloomberg article –
After the ACA went into effect in 2013, Medela increased production of less expensive models that had been developed for women receiving U.S. government aid.
With Medela’s competition, Ameda and Philips Avent (both great brands) topping their top-of-the-line pumps out at just over $200, that puts Medela in an interesting position. In order to hold onto their 80% market share, they need cheaper versions of their quality pumps in order to fall within the ACA max price limits.
Otherwise, insurance carriers could start switching to the lower cost brands.
So does the price limit set by the ACA inadvertently lower quality?
Possibly. Medela is still a business and they can’t give their best and most expensive pump (the Freestyle – amazing pump by the way) for a fraction of the price. So the solution is to develop lower cost pumps. But as a consumer who has grown to trust the brand name of Medela, we have to hope that all future pumps offered through insurance carriers will carry the same quality we love and trust.
The ACA can set the limits but all women deserve a quality pump. The pump options available differ by the insurance carrier and this doesn’t just apply to women on government assistance.
Some private insurance carriers only offered the Personal Double pump in question, forcing mother’s to chose the low-quality pump or shelling out the money for a better quality one. But that’s not a luxury that we all have the means to do.
What do I Think of Medela
I actually applaud Medela for phasing out this dreadful pump. With so many better options in their portfolio (the Advanced Personal Double is one of them) at nearly the same price, why risk tarnishing their good name? I still stand by most of their products (the Pump in Style Advanced and Freestyle pump being a few).
I think if their goal is to move all their pumps in the direction of their 2 Phase Expression Technology then they will be better for it.
I do hope they continue to provide us with quality products even at a low cost. With women going back to work so early in the US because of limited maternity leave time available, it is more important than ever that all women despite their insurance carrier are provided with a quality pump.
I hate to think the ACA will cause quality to drop but I hope more than anything it prompts change within the Breast Pump Industry with an emphasis on quality at a lower cost.
What do you think of the Affordable Care Act and its influence on the Breast Pump industry? Do you think it is fair to offer those on government assistance lower priced and therefore, lower quality pumps?
yes better to buy good thing expensive rather than inferior cheap good
That’s true!
The price competition has made the product inferior in quality. I can spend more to buy quality products than to buy an inferior product to use.
That is certainly a concern, very true. As the market gets more competitive, the lower the prices need to be for companies to compete and thus quality suffers. Thankfully, I still think there are well-made, affordable pumps on the market today. I can only hope those products remain consistent!
Hello Heather,
This was a very interesting and helpful read. I totally agree with you that it’s better to save some money and invest into proper and more expensive pump, like the Medela you reviewed here.
Thank you very much for sharing this helpfull review!
Yes, so much smarter to just invest in a good one upfront! Thank you for your comment, Lukas! Take care!
Hello, I found this a very interesting article in that I always used the Medela brand nursing pump for my babies. I think it is wonderful that breastfeed is a more natural and popular topic than it wS in my day. Even 25 years ago it was a bit awkward , men would leer and act strAngly.
Anyway , I am so glad that there are more options but it is disappointing ting that the ACA has had such far reaching And negative impact in so many areas. It is ridiculous.. I can’t even afford insurance anymore . Not get Medicaid . Hubby pays for insurance e but cannot afford a dr visit. He has a condition that needs care.. Nonetheless , thank you for sharing this .. Very good to be informed ..
Breastfeeding certainly over the years was very taboo, for sure. I have read the good, the bad and the ugly about the ACA. I was working full time back in 2013 and my health care through my company sky rocketed too. I was fortunate though that my husband had such wonderful insurance through his company that we didn’t take any big hits. Such as shame you find yourself in that position. I hope there is some middle ground found. Thank you for your comment and take care.
Very interesting and informative article. I agree with you that Medela is doing the right thing by phasing out the pump that doesn’t measure up to the standards their customers have grown to expect from them. I wonder what they’re going to do about the pricing though, in order to stay competitive. It will be interesting to watch, as the story unfolds.
Yes, very interesting. I don’t see them coming down on their top of the line prices but maybe developing another lower cost model but with the 2 phase expression technology. Who knows but either way I hope all mothers have access to the best!
Very interesting review. I didn’t know all that information and this was very helpful. Keep it up!
Thank you, Rashaad! Take care!
This post is very interesting! I was not aware that the ACA affected all of these things normally provided by state insurance such as breast pumps. Honestly I decided not to breastfeed for personal reasons but seems there are not many options for effective practical pumps for low income moms. Medela is doing a good thing outing the pump that’s not effective, usually when they stop production of a product, especially a reputable company like Medela, they most likely have a better more updated option coming available soon. Great organized post.
-Krista
Yes, I agree that they must have an alternative to offer soon. It seems some insurance carriers are offering the Pump in Style (not the Pump in Style Advance though) and potentially a few others. I fear that even though they are phasing this one out, some lower income moms may still be receiving this pump as their only option. I guess we will have to see what 2016 brings.
Thank you for your comment!
I had no idea that the affordable care act impacted pumps. This is interesting and I will pass on the information. I also have a question: is there a place I can purchase a pump lower than $111.00?
Hi Jay, you can get for one less than $111 but not a very good one. At least not a good electric pump. This is the type of product that it does not pay to go cheap. There are manual pumps for less than $100 but those are really for women who just need to pump every once in a while. It would be hard to pump often using a manual pump.
I did a review of what I consider 6 great pump options here on the site – http://thepumpingmommy.com/best-breast-pump-review-of-6-different-pumps-for-all-moms – If you check it out, you will see only 1 pump is under $100 and it happens to be the Medela manual pump. I would be leery of an electric pump under $100. Hope that helps and thank you for your comment!
I agree with Heather. It’s frustrating that the pumps cost so much but this is one area where it’s worth it to pay the extra money for a good quality pump. With my first son I purchased a $50 electric pump and it was pretty much worthless. I was lucky to get 2 ounces total! I ended up having to throw it away and purchased the Medela Pump in Style later on
Yikes, only two ounces?! I really do think cheap pumps end up being a huge waste of money! Thank you for driving that home. Put that $50 toward a quality pump, ladies!
Tricky subject as there is people out there who need help from government to get by and then there’s the other type who blatantly lazy who want to live off the government
So in a way I agree some people should be entitled to the pump and some shouldn’t how they tackle ot I don’t know
Very good point. The whole “welfare” debate is ago old. I guess it is hard to separate the “needy” from the “greedy” so I’m not sure how one would go about deciding. I think I might be leaning toward giving it to everyone just in case haha.