Consumers’ confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare services inched up in September, hitting a score of 98 on the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index, up one point from August.
While healthcare sentiment improved, the score still falls two points lower than the benchmark of 100 points set in December 2009.
“The volatility that we have seen this year seems to be moderating, but is still present,” the report noted. “Economic worries both in the U.S. and in Europe are still high. As we head into the fourth quarter, consumers may simply be waiting to see if the other shoe will drop.”
[See also: Thomson Reuters: Healthcare consumer confidence dipped in July; Middle-income Americans cite soaring healthcare costs as top retirement concern]
Of the three components comprising the total score, only the Retrospective Sentiment Composite score showed an increase over the prior month, rising to 98 points from 96 points in August. The retrospective score measures whether respondents were more likely to delay, cancel or be unable to pay for healthcare services or insurance in the previous three months.
The other two components used to make up the index are the Prospective Sentiment Composite, which indicates whether respondents are more likely to delay, cancel or be unable to pay for healthcare services or insurance in the next three months, and the Healthcare Services Composite, which indicates whether respondents are likely to delay healthcare services in the next three months. Both components remained unchanged from August, with both scoring 98.
The index is based on the Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare Survey, which collects information annually from 100,000 households about healthcare behaviors, attitudes and utilization. The sample is representative of all U.S. adults and households. The sentiment index, published monthly, is based on responses from a survey subset of 3,000 respondents each month.