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Americans’ confidence in their health insurance coverage and ability to access health care fell for the second consecutive month. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF Index) dropped from 99.1 points in February to 97.4 in March. The RWJF Index is a monthly survey that evaluates consumer confidence in American health care. It is tabulated by the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) using data collected as part of the Surveys of Consumers, conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan.
The RWJF Index ranges from 0 to 200—with baseline set at 100 in spring of 2009—and is comprised of two sub-indices. The first, the Recent Health Cost Barriers Index, gauges consumers’ recent experiences accessing health care because of cost concerns. . This index decreased from 100.7 in February to 99.3 in March. The second, the Future Health Cost Concerns Index, measures consumers’ confidence about accessing health care or health insurance in the future because of cost. This index also decreased from 97.5 in February to 95.6 in March.