How do lactation centers usually charge for their services?
This can vary considerably depending on where you live. In some countries the mother will be charged for the length of the consultation if the IBCLC is in private practice. If seen by an IBCLC working for the government the service could be free. In the U.S., most lactation centers charge a fee similar to patient visits in other areas of health care, with the patient paying at the time of service. Insurers in some states in the U.S. give billing privileges to facilities that employ an IBCLC or to individual IBCLCs. Some insurers pay for visits under the standardized lactation billing code, S9443 (lactation classes, non-physician provider, per session). Many add the code to their covered services when billed repeatedly. Lactation services can be bundled into a diagnosis-related group (DRG) for first-year pediatric care or OB/childbirth services and billed to the provider, who receives the per capita base rate. The patient’s co-pay is usually a percentage of the full fee or a percentage
