Health Insurance Activity

With the costs of medicines and medical treatments growing rapidly, most people need insurance in order to afford the expensive care they may need. In many cases, health insurance covers doctor's visits, hospital stays, prescriptions, and more. Fortunately, many people in the United States have health insurance already. Unfortunately, there are still many people in this country who don't. As of 1997, there were roughly 43 million people living without health insurance. That's around sixteen percent of the entire U.S. population. Often, when people live without health insurance, they don't receive necessary medical care, regular check-ups, or life-saving drugs. This is a large problem in today's society, and a problem that has only recently been addressed with the emergence of Medicare and Medicaid. However, even these programs can't be relied on to insure all Americans. No one specific group or type of people is exempt from having an uninsured population. There are African-Americans who don't have health insurance, just as there are whites and Hispanics. Many women are uninsured, as are many children. Old and young people alike are often living without insurance. It is a problem that effects society as a whole, and although not all groups are affected equally, all have to experience it in some way.

To help solve the problem, researchers can compare the groups and find out which groups need to be targeted the most by health care reformers. In this activity, you will be performing a Chi-Squared test to determine whether there is a relationship between age and insurance coverage.