Americans' Confidence in Their Ability to Access and Pay for Healthcare Remains Low, According to Thomson Reuters Index

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Aug 09, 2010, 08:00 ET

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare remained low in June, according to a consumer sentiment index from Thomson Reuters.

The Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index found that overall confidence in June remained at the same level as May — 97 points. The index, which is based on the Thomson Reuters PULSE™ Healthcare Survey, has two parts:

A retrospective component gauges respondents' experiences during the past three months. In June, consumers continued to report significantly worsened ability to access, use and pay for healthcare services in the past three months, though other components of the retrospective index were unchanged.
A prospective component gauges their expectations for the coming three months. There were no significant changes from May results in the prospective consumer sentiment index, although consumers continued to be concerned about having to delay or cancel elective surgery or therapy in the next three months.

A report on the June results is available here: http://healthcarescience.thomsonreuters.com/indexes/assets/June2010Index_CHSI.pdf

The Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare Survey collects information about healthcare behaviors, attitudes and utilization from more than 100,000 U.S. households annually. It is representative of all U.S. adults and households. The Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index is based on responses from a survey subset of 3,000 respondents each month. Its baseline measurement of 100 was set in December 2009.

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SOURCE Thomson Reuters