government
Consumers remain concerned about health care costs, coverage
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 11, 2010
In 2009, an average of 26.5% of Americans worried they would lose health care coverage, and 48.3% worried they would not be able to pay for health care if they or a family member became seriously ill, according to the compiled results from the monthly Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Consumer Confidence Index.
The percentage of Americans who listed these and other concerns fluctuated only slightly during 2009, a year in which the political debate on health care took sharp turns, according to Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, the foundation's president and CEO. "That suggests that Americans' confidence in the future of their care is more affected by personal concerns than political rhetoric."
The foundation's consumer confidence index is a measure of how adults perceive their financial access to health care. About 500 adults are interviewed monthly for the index, which has a margin of error of 4.3%. The report is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/01/11/gvbf0111.htm.












