title: The cost of unintended pregnancy in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the many contraceptive options available in the United States, nearly half (49%) of the 6.4 million pregnancies each year are unintended; these represent a significant cost to the health care system.
  
  
  METHODS
  The total number of unintended pregnancies and their outcomes were obtained from the literature. Direct medical costs were estimated for each unintended pregnancy outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The direct medical costs of unintended pregnancies were US$5 billion in 2002. Direct medical cost savings due to contraceptive use were US$19 billion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unintended pregnancies are a costly problem in the United States. Contraceptive use can reduce direct and indirect costs; hence, payers may realize cost savings by providing coverage of contraceptive products.
authors.affiliation: Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. trussell@princeton.edu
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trussell
mesh_terms: D003267:Contraception / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000191:economics; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D014481:United States