Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare has hit an all-time low, according to Thomson Reuters.
Overall confidence dropped to 95 points out of 100 on the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index in July – the lowest since the index was launched in December 2009.
The index is based on telephone interviews with 3,000 people each month. Respondents are asked to characterize their household's recent and anticipated use of healthcare services and their ability to access and pay for those services.
In the July survey people were significantly more likely to say they expect to delay or cancel physician visits, laboratory tests or medical procedures in the next three months, compared with answers from the June poll.
"That's a cause for concern to healthcare providers and policymakers," said Gary Pickens, chief research officer at Thomson Reuters. “The index has been trending downward all year, but this is the first time we've seen this type of across-the-board decline.”
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 and a prospective component assesses their expectations for the coming three months.