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How AAP Supports Advocacy Efforts
The AAP Section on Breastfeeding is involved in many breastfeeding advocacy efforts with the help of the Department of Federal Affairs, the Department of Community, Chapter, and State Affairs, and the Private Payer Advocacy Advisory Committee.
- Federal Affairs Web site
The Department of Federal Affairs, based in Washington DC, represents the policy positions of the AAP before the US Congress and the Administration's departments and agencies. - State Government Affairs Web site
The Division of State Government Affairs, located at the Academy's Elk Grove Village headquarters, provides consultation on state legislative and regulatory activities and assists AAP chapters and members with addressing child and adolescent health and pediatric practice issues and strategies under consideration by state and local governments. - Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinators Roster
Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinators (CBCs) are pediatricians who are appointed by their AAP Chapter President to work within their AAP Chapter (there is at least 1 AAP Chapter in every state and Puerto Rico) and the community on breastfeeding support and promotion. CBCs work hard to make sure that the members of their AAP Chapter are up to date on the latest breastfeeding education and advocacy activities. - Contact Your State AAP Chapter!
Your Chapter wants to work with you on these issues. Please contact them for assistance and to inform them of your efforts. - Letter to Payers — Breast Pump and Breastfeeding Services Coverage
The Section on Breastfeeding worked with the Private Payer Advocacy Advisory Committee to write this letter to payers regarding breastfeeding and breast pump services. Use this letter as a starting point for your own advocacy efforts with payers! - Breastpump and Related Equipment Reimbursement in Flexible Spending Accounts
The AAP joined several other organizations in sending a letter to the IRS in January 2009 advocating for the inclusion of breastpumps and related equipment in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). The IRS letter to the AAP can also be found here. There has been recent media attention on this issue, including this article in the October 27, 2010 edition of the New York Times.
As pediatricians, we advocate for children every day when we care for them in the office. We can choose to go beyond that and work on the local, state, and federal level to change things, but pediatrics is all about advocacy. For kids to have any rights at all, somebody has to claim them for them. We do that everyday in the very nature of our profession, from the individual to the national level. 
– Jennifer Thomas, MD, FAAP, on advocating for breastfeeding in Wisconsin
– Jennifer Thomas, MD, FAAP, on advocating for breastfeeding in Wisconsin
