January 13, 2010 – In a recent post on the blog for Health Affairs, a health policy journal, Ibis Senior Associate Daniel Grossman and colleagues from UCSF and Princeton examine data about out-of-pocket health expenses by the uninsured to demonstrate the burden of cost that could result if proposed restrictions to abortion coverage are made into law through health care reform in the US. The data show that out-of-pocket costs are higher for young, uninsured women than for young, uninsured men. The average cost for first trimester abortion is about double, and second trimester abortion costs almost four times, the current average out-of-pocket expenditures for young, uninsured individuals. Excluding abortion coverage from health care reform not only places an unfair financial load on women, it betrays the goals of health care reform to equalize access and reduce barriers to care.