Americans Increasingly Happy With Health Care System

I had heard that insurance companies were actually please with the debate since people started taking their coverage seriously and as they looked into their Health Insurance they were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Consider this another positive sign as people listen to Obama's scare tactics and promptly shrug it off:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fewer Americans are afraid that they will be unable to pay for healthcare services and fewer expect to postpone medical treatments due to costs, according to a Thomson Reuters survey published on Monday.

Researchers found a steady increase in people's confidence about their ability to pay for healthcare services -- it rose 12 percent between March and July this year.

The survey of 3,000 households showed, unsurprisingly, that people who made more money were more confident they could pay for medical care, and people who had insurance were far more confident about paying than those who lacked insurance.

"These findings are consistent with data we've been seeing for everything from hospital discharge trends to opinions about healthcare reform," said Gary Pickens, chief research officer for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters.

"There is growing optimism among many healthcare consumers, but (there) also is a clear disparity in outlook between those with higher income levels who have insurance coverage and those who are uninsured. This gap needs to be an area of focus for healthcare professionals and policymakers," Pickens added in a statement.

Healthcare reform is the signature policy goal of President Barack Obama, and Congress is working on several bills, most concentrating on changes in the health insurance industry.

Some interesting aspects from the Reuters Thomson Study:


1. An analysis of trends between March and July 2009 indicates improving healthcare consumer confidence.The Thomson Reuters Healthcare Index: Consumer Confidence increased by 12 percent between Marchand July 2009, following increases in the two previous survey periods. All components of theindex increased. The payment confidence index moved up approximately 18 percent, while service indexes for routine care, urgent care, testing, elective surgery, and therapies increased between8 percent and 15 percent. All improvements are statistically significant.( Click on Link for corresponding charts and graphs)

2. Groups under the age of 35 showed showed lower confidence gains, 35-64 a slightly more, and over 65 saw a massive increase in overall confidence. Its worth noting all groups increased their overall confidence in the system.

3. The biggest split was in those who earned 50,000 or more and had a higher education tended to have much higher confidence then those who earned less and had less education. But even here the lowest earners (25,000) or less showed an increase in confidence and the only group to show any decline was found in the 25,000 to 50,000 bracket.

A Summary of the Findings:

• The Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Indexes™: Consumer Confidence is based on data from thePULSE™ Healthcare Survey and tracks overall healthcare confidence as well as confidence in payment forand access to services. Our study of consumer confidence between March and July 2009 found:

• An overall index increased by 12 percent between March and July 2009.

• The index reflecting respondents’ belief that they could pay for healthcare moved up approximately18 percent.

• The indexes reflecting respondents’ belief that they would be able to access necessary routine care, urgent care, medical testing, elective surgery and therapies all increased between 8 percentand 15 percent.
  

• Overall confidence levels were highest in the oldest ages in July. Improvement in overall confidence wasalso greatest in the oldest age group.

• Overall confidence increased with consumer household income level. Improvement in confidence was somewhat faster in two of the lower income groups.

• Higher levels of education are associated with higher overall confidence levels. Improvement in confidence was significant in lowest and highest education groups.
  

• Insurance coverage has a powerful effect on confidence levels. Those without insurance had overall confidence levels 80 percent less than average in July 2009. Confidence levels improved significantly for consumers with insurance.

So we have increased confidence generally across the board for the "broken" system. Nothing like the threat of losing something to make people appreciate what they have.