By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A Planned Parenthood executive admitted to Forbes Magazine last week that the reason insurers want to cover abortion is because the procedure is cheaper than childbirth and saves them money.
“A first trimester abortion is $300 to $450,” said John Nugent, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland, in Baltimore. “But if the gestational age is higher you’re paying for a surgical suite. That’s why the insurance companies think they should be offering it. It’s cheaper to terminate an unwanted pregnancy rather than taking it to term.”
Forbes points out that according to the Health Care Blue Book, an abortion performed in a physician’s office typically costs $397. A vaginal delivery costs $5,992, while a c-section is $8,558.
“Insurance companies are loathe to comment on why they pay for the controversial procedure but if you’re running the business by the numbers, it’s fairly obvious,” writes Forbes’ David Whelan. “An unwanted pregnancy is much more inexpensive to terminate, compared to the cost of a delivery.”
But don’t expect the money arguments to get much airtime in Washington, even if the insurance companies have a financial stake in the outcome, Whelan says, because, according to Nugent, “They won’t talk about it.”
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