With the House expected to vote to defund last year’s health overhaul law and frequent battles in the Senate over repealing the law all together, things have been pretty ugly here in Washington.
But this week brought a small win for moms. A group of lawmakers are celebrating a decision by the Internal Revenue Service to allow women to deduct the cost of breast pumps and other breast-feeding supplies.
The policy change means that from now on, taxpayers will be able to get back the money shelled out for breast-feeding supplies, which can cost hundreds of dollars.
It’s not super easy (is anything dealing with the IRS easy?) But women in the know can now get reimbursed if they use money from their Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Accounts. Or, they can deduct the costs from their income taxes — if they have other medical expenses that make up more than 7.5 percent of their income.
Breast-Feeding Gets A Boost Amid The Health Policy Wars — NPR
