Men's Health & Primary Care: Improving Access and Outcomes
Final A Brief Comparison of US Health Care
1. A Brief Comparison of US Health Care, Mortality and Finances, 2010
MATLAB Project | Nora Richardson | 3/23/2015
Thisprojectattemptsto researchwhetheracorrelationexistsbetweenlifeexpectancy,and
healthinsurance;specificallythe insuredversus the uninsured. Furthermore,itexploresthe
relationshipbetweenaffordabilityof healthinsurance andthe percentage of familiesinsured. The data
collectedisfrom2010 US census,educational andhealthcare institutions (referencedbelow);eachdata
point,withinstate boundaries,isbasedonthe average of thatstate,and isbasedon family/household
data rather than the individual.
Thissubjectwaschosendue to the current governmentcontroversyregarding“Obama-care”.
The data depicted inthe followingmapsrepresentsstatisticsfrombeforethe AffordableCare Actwas
implemented. Itintroducesstatisticsthatpartiallyoutline the issues of HealthCare before the reform.
The projectis notan all-encompassingcomparisonandisonlybasedonaveragesperstate ratherthan
individualnumbers;however,the statisticsoffer abroad overview of UShealthinsurance andfinancial
circumstancesduringthe yearsimmediatelyprecedingreform. The purpose of these mapsistoraise
the questionof whetherreformwasneeded;itdoesnotpretendtoprove thatitwas or was not,nor
doesitdiscussthe effectivityof the Affordable Care Act.
Initial Data Grid and 3-D Images:
The followingExcel Spreadsheetswere made tocreate datapointsforthe 3D maps. The firstdata grid
belowisa template of the US. Thisgridwas thenimportedintoMicrosoftWord. In orderto create each
code,the followingprocesswasused:FIND> ENTER IN A STATE ABBREVIATION >SELECT REPLACE >
TYPE THE STATE’S VALUEINTO THE REPLACEBOX > CLICKON REPLACE ALL. This processwasfollowed
48 timespermap: once perstate. The data was thencopiedandpastedinMATLAB withthe
appropriate code above andbelow.
Data Grid of the UnitedStates(withstate abbreviations):
2. The following3Dmapswere designedinMATLAB.Oneachthe x-axisrepresentsthe vertical lengthof
the UnitedStatesfromcoast to coast. The y-axisrepresentsthe horizontal lengthof the UnitedStates
fromthe Canadianbordertothat of Mexico. The z-axisof eachmap representsthatmap’sspecificdata
values:“Annual HouseholdIncome 2010” inthe first,“Average HC PremiumCostsperFamily2010” in
the second,“Average Percentagesof the Uninsured,2010” inthe third,and“Average Percentagesof the
Uninsured,2010” inthe fourth.
Annual HouseholdIncome2010:
Average HCPremiumCostsperFamily2010:
4. Results:
The firsttwo graphsdepictthe annual householdandthe average costof familyhealthcare in
2010 per state.The northeastshowproportional costs:acomparativelyhighhouseholdincome
partneredwithacomparativelyhighcostinhealthcare.Californiadisplayedasimilartendency.
Kentucky,OklahomaandMississippi all have proportionallylow annual incomeandhealthcare
premiums. However,throughoutthe restof the UnitedStatesthere wassignificantdisparity.Often
timesstateswithverylowannual incomessufferedveryhighhealthcare costs;the Southeast(especially
Louisiana),the Southwest,andsome NorthweststatessuchasIdahoand Montana all display
disproportionatedata. The opposite disparityalsoexists:stateswithhighannual income andlow
premiumcosts:Washington, WyomingandNorthDakotaall exhibitthispattern.
The nextcomparisonanswersthe question:doesaffordabilityaffectthe percentof familieswho
enroll inhealthinsurance. The thirdmapdisplays the percentage of the insuredversusthe uninsured of
each state. The percentages are somewhatbasedongeographical location: fromthe Northeasttothe
easternborderof Montana, the percentage of uninsuredissignificantlylowerthanthatof the restof
the country (thisdoesnot includedthe southernpart of easternUS). This low percentage isfitting
because muchof the Northeasthasaffordable healthcare inrelationtotheirincome. Washington isan
exception;althoughpartof the west,their costof healthcare and percentage of uninsuredare both
relativelylow. The stateswiththe greatestnumberof uninsuredare Florida,TexasandNevada. Florida
and Texasexhibitadisproportionatelyhighcostof healthinsurance,butNevadadoesnot. Although
lessextreme,MontanaandIdahohave disproportionately highhealthcare costsandexhibitrelatively
highuninsuredpercentages. The westerncoastof CA also hasa highnumberof uninsuredpersons,
eventhough theirhealthcare isproportionate totheirincome. Forthe mostpart, affordabilityof
healthcare doesseemtoimpactthe percentage of insured:the more unaffordable the healthcare,the
greaterthe numberof uninsured. The geographiclocationof astate alsoseemstohave an impact on
insurance percentages.
The final map liststhe life expectancyages of eachstate from 2010. The Northeastandthe
Midwesthave the lowestnumberof uninsuredwhichcorrelateswiththe highestlife expectancies.
Nevada,Texasandthe statessurroundingTexashave the highestpercentagesof uninsuredresidents
whichcorrelateswithlowerlife expectancies.Forthe mostpart,the percentage of uninsured predicts
life expectancies;exceptionsare partsof FloridaandCalifornia.
These mapsand comparisonsdonotinclude all neededdatatomake a legitimateclaimasto
how affordabilityaffectsthe percentage of those whoenrollininsurance,affectsthe lifeexpectancyof a
person;however,theydo display evidence of acorrelationbasedonthe topicsdiscussed.
14. Resources
2015 KaiserFamilyFoundation. LifeExpectancy atBirth (in years). Retrievedfrom
http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/life-expectancy/
SHADAC’sData Center. (2013). CoverageType,Total. Retrievedfrom
http://datacenter.shadac.org/rank/236/coverage-type-
total#1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,
36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52/1/5/458/false/location
National Conference of State Legislatures.(2015.) Health Insurance:Premiumsand Increases. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.ncsl.org/research/health/health-insurance-premiums.aspx
U.S. CensusBureau.(2014). StateMedian Income.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/statemedian/
Google Maps/Earth.(2012). United States.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/United+States/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x54eab584e432360b:0x1c3bb
99243deb742?sa=X&ei=7j8PVaCHCdK1sQTeooDYDg&ved=0CEAQ8gEwAA