Women's Health Issues
Volume 16, Issue 1 , Pages 4-13 , January 2006

Patient costs for medication abortion: Results from a study of five clinical practices

  • Stephanie L. Van Bebber, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program, Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy, San Francisco, California
    • Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
    • ,
  • Kathryn A. Phillips, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program, Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy, San Francisco, California
    • Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Kathryn A. Phillips, PhD, Professor of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St. Suite 415, Box 0613, San Francisco, CA 94143
    • ,
  • Tracy A. Weitz, MPA

      Affiliations

    • Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program, Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy, San Francisco, California
    • ,
  • Heather Gould, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program, Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy, San Francisco, California
    • ,
  • Felicia Stewart, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
    • Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Received 8 April 2005 ,Revised 14 June 2005 ,Accepted 8 July 2005.

References 

  1. Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). (2003). State facts about abortion. Available: http://www.agi-usa.org. Accessed August 27, 2004.
  2. Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). (2004). State funding of abortion under Medicaid. State policies in brief, as of January 1, 2005. Available: http://www.guttmacher.org. Accessed January 14, 2005.
  3. Creinin MD . Randomized comparison of efficacy, acceptability and cost of medical versus surgical abortion . Contraception . 2000;62(3):117–124
  4. Creinin MD , Potter C , Holovanisin M , Janczukiewicz L , Pymar HC , Schwartz JL , et al.   Mifepristone and misoprostol and methotrexate/misoprostol in clinical practice for abortion . American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology . 2003;188:664–669
  5. Creinin MD , Shore E , Balasubramanian S , Harwood B . The true cost differential between mifepristone and misoprostol and misoprostol-alone regimens for medical abortion . Contraception . 2005;71:26–30
  6. Danco Laboratories. (2004, November 15). Dear health care professional [Letter]. Available: http://www.earlyoptionpill. Retrieved October 5, 2005.
  7. Drummond MF , O’Brien BJ , Stoddart GL . Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes . 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 1997;
  8. Finer LB , Henshaw SK . Abortion incidence and services in the United States in 2000 . Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health . 2003;35(1):6–15
  9. Folbre N . The invisible heart (Economics and family values) . New York: New Press; 2001;
  10. Gemperli M , Stewart FH , Phillips KA , Sakowski J , Van Bebber SL , Berghold L . Insurance coverage for mifepristone-induced abortion (A case study of information contained in insurer policies) . Managed Care Interface . 2005;18(3):26–30
  11. Gibb S , Donaldson C , Henshaw R . Assessing strength of preference for abortion method using ’willingness to pay’ (A useful research technique for measuring values) . Journal of Advanced Nursing . 1998;27(1):30–36
  12. Gold M , Siegel J , Russell L , Weinstein M . Cost-effectiveness in health and medicine . New York: Oxford University Press; 1996;
  13. Grimes DA . Clinicians who provide abortions (The thinning ranks) . Obstetrics and Gynecology . 1992;80:719–723
  14. In:  Haddix A ,  Teutsch S ,  Corso P editor. Prevention effectiveness (a guide to decision and economic evaluation) . Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press; 2003;
  15. Harrington Meyer M . Care work (Gender, class, and the welfare state) . New York: Routledge; 2000;
  16. Harvey SM , Beckman LJ , Satre SJ . Choice of and satisfaction with methods of medical and surgical abortion among U.S. clinic patients . Family Planning Perspectives . 2001;33(5):212–216
  17. Henshaw RC , Naji SA , Russell IT , Templeton AA . Comparison of medical abortion with surgical vacuum aspiration (Women’s preferences and acceptability of treatment) . British Medical Journal . 1993;307(6906):714–717
  18. Henshaw SK , Finer LB . The accessibility of abortion services in the United States, 2001 . Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health . 2003;35(1):16–24
  19. Henshaw SK , Wallisch LS . The Medicaid cutoff and abortion services for the poor . Family Planning Perspectives . 1984;16:171–172 177–180
  20. Joffe C , Weitz TA . Normalizing the exceptional (Incorporating the “abortion pill” into mainstream medicine) . Social Science and Medicine . 2003;56:2353–2366
  21. Jones RK , Darroch JE , Henshaw SK . Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000–2001 . Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health . 2002;34:226–235
  22. Murthy A , Creinin MD . Pharmacoeconomics of medical abortion (A review of cost in the United States, Europe and Asia) . Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy . 2003;4:503–513
  23. Rorbye C , Norgaard M , Nilas L . Medical versus surgical abortion (Comparing satisfaction and potential confounders in a partly randomized study) . Human Reproduction . 2005;20:834–838
  24. Stewart FH , Wells ES , Flinn SK , Weitz TA . Early medical abortion (Issues for practice) . San Francisco: UCSF Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy; 2001;
  25. Virgo KS , Carr TR , Hile A , Virgo JM , Sullivan GM , Kaikati JG . Medical versus surgical abortion (A survey of knowledge and attitudes among abortion clinic patients) . Women’s Health Issues . 1999;9:143–154
  26. Weitz TA , Foster A , Ellertson C , Grossman D , Stewart FH . “Medical” and “surgical” abortion (Rethinking the modifiers) . Contraception . 2004;69:77–78
  27. Wiebe E , Dunn S , Guilbert E , Jacot F , Lugtig L . Comparison of abortions induced by methotrexate or mifepristone followed by misoprostol . Obstetrics and Gynecology . 2002;99:813–819
  28. Wiebe ER , Janssen P . Time lost from work among women choosing medical or surgical abortions . Womens Health Issues . 2000;10:327–332

 Funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Open Society Institute.

PII: S1049-3867(05)00081-2

doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2005.07.006

Women's Health Issues
Volume 16, Issue 1 , Pages 4-13 , January 2006

Article Tools