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Running head: HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Health Insurance Research Project for Calhoun County


Linda Elliston
The Robert B. Miller College
Math 305- Applied Statistics
Tim Haidl
October 31, 2012Table of Contents
List of Charts and Graphs .....................................................................................................p. 3
Introduction....p. 4
Statement of the problem......p. 4
Rationale for the Study.p. 4
Review of Literature .......p.5
Hypothesis......p.8
Delimitations, limitations, and assumptions....,.p.8
Method ....p. 9
Participants .p. 9
Instrument...p. 9
Procedure.....p.9

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Results.p.17
Quantitative Findings.p.17
Designp.11
Discussion ......p.12
Interpretation of Findings...p.14
Limitations.p.14
Recommendations for Use.....p.14
Recommendations for Further Research....p.14
Conclusion..p.22
References...........p.23

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

List of Charts and Graphs


Graph 1 Graft from U.S. Census Bureau on national statistics.
Graph 2 Raw data on the number of patients coming into ER from April 2012 through October
2012.
Graph 3 Raw data comparing the number of patients with number of patients with no health
insurance by month.
Graph 4 Pivot graft on monthly raw data
Graph 5 Monthly ED graph on number of patients coming into ED with and without insurance.
Graph 6 The total six months Pie Chart of the total number of patients coming into ED with
and without insurance
Graph 7 The p-hat equation for the confidence interval.
Graph 8 Monthly table of percentages of the patients that came into the Emergency Department
and the number of them that did not have any health insurance

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Health Insurance Research Project for Calhoun County


The price of health care is increasing everyday due to the innovative technology and the cost
associated with it. Along with this increased cost, is the cost of having health insurance. Small companies
cannot afford to offer their employees any health insurance, and if they do, some have such high
premiums that the employees decide to opt out. Most of the people that do not have health insurance in
the United States are from low income families or are unemployed, some are the young adults, (between
the ages of 19-26), and some are foreign born, (not US citizens). Health insurance is a major concern for
our nation today. Some people go day to day without any healthcare coverage just praying a disaster
never happens to them.
The Statement of the Problem
This research project is to analyze the percentage of people living in Calhoun County that do not
have health insurance. This problem is becoming a major concern nationwide. With the rising cost of
health care, one minor accident or one needed surgery could put some working class families in debt over
their heads, or even bankruptcy.
Rationale for the Study
This research project is important for comparing local statistics with national statistics to determine if
how Calhoun County compares with the national average on the percentage of people that cannot afford
health insurance.

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Literature Review
The number of families in America without health insurance is on the rise. According to a CNN
Money Magazine article, 16.3% of the nations population did not have health insurance in 2010
(Christie, 2011). The article also stated that in 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau reported over 49 million
people did not have health insurance, and this number increased to 49.9 million in 2010. As mentioned
above, most of the people without insurance are families that are unemployed or from low income, young
adults between the ages of 19 to 25, and from foreign born, non U.S. citizens. Furthermore, a lot of
employers cannot afford to offer health insurance to their employees due to the high premiums and
budget cuts. Some of the companies that do offer health insurance have to pass along more of the cost to
the employees causing some of the employees to opt out of their employers healthcare plans. Nearly
one-in-four working-age adults are uninsured (Christie, 2011). With more people not having any health
insurance, government programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and children health plans try to pick up
some of the slack. According to CNN Money, in 2010, 31% of Americans relied on the government for
health insurance, up from 24.2% in 1999 (Christie, 2011). Even with these government health plans, the
Census Bureau reported that 9.8% of children under age 18 are uninsured despite the government
programs targeting them like CHIPS and Medicaid, which is also open to their parents (Christie, 2011).
In most states, Medicaid is not offered to adults without children.
The graphical representation below is from the US Census Bureau showing the national statistics on
the number of people in America without health insurance (Christie, 2011).

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Health insurance is a major concern for our country. According to an article written in 2012, the
presidential electoral issues include:

The Electoral Issue: Health care is expensive and getting more so, squeezing private
enterprise and driving up the deficit. Millions of Americans are uninsured which leads to
bankruptcies and anxiety.

The Challenge: How to lower costs and expand coverage without a drop in quality (Miller, 2012).

Healthcare concerns are a major issue for the 2012 election since the rising cost of health care is the
number one cause of increased deficits (Miller, 2012). A lot of people rely on government programs to
help them pay their medical expenses:
Federal health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Childrens' Health Insurance
Program (CHIP), comprised 21 percent of the 2011 federal budget, totaling $769 billion dollars.
Nearly two thirds of this amount went to Medicare, the health-insurance program that covers
approximately 48 million disabled and elderly Americans. The remainder went to Medicaid and
CHIP which provide health care to 60 million low-income children and families and are co-funded
by the states (Miller, 2012).

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

The Medicare and Medicaid programs put a lot of strain on the Governments budget. Some people feel
that the Americans fee-for-service insurance program is the cause of this added expense. They believe
that some physicians just order unnecessary exams and test to pad their pockets without explaining to
their patient the option to decline these procedures. According to CBS news, Among the 34 OECD
countries, only Mexico, Turkey, and the United States do not have universal health care coverage, and:
almost 50 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2010 - 16.3 percent of the
population The healthcare costs incurred by those without insurance are eventually shifted to
those with insurance in the form of higher premiums. A 2008 study from Families USA, an
advocacy group that supports coverage expansion, determined that the average family pays $1017
per year in higher premiums to help cover the cost of the uninsured (Miller, 2012).
In 2010, about 55.3 percent of Americans receive their health insurance from their employers compared
to 64.1 percent in 2000 (Miller, 2012). This percentage has been decreasing due to the high cost of
offering medical insurance benefits, especially for the smaller businesses. Americans not having any
type of health insurance is a big problem. In 2009, a study by the American Journal of Medicine reported
that medical debt was the number one reason behind bankruptcy filings in the U.S., accounting for 62
percent of personal bankruptcies (Miller, 2012).

Hypothesis
During this 6 month study, April 2012 through October 2012, over 35% of the population coming
into Bronson Battle Creek, Emergency Department (ED), for medical treatment will not have any type of
health insurance. The confidence interval for this study is only 90% due to the delimitations and the

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

limitations. The null hypothesis for this study -- 35% of the patients coming into the ED will not have
health insurance. The alternative hypothesis-- a different percentage, (maybe higher or maybe lower than
35%), of the population will not have health insurance. Example: null hypothesis: H: = 35 %.
Alternative hypotheses: H: 35%.
Delimitations, limitations, and assumptions
This study does not include the whole population of Calhoun County. It only includes the people
that seek treatment for medical conditions at Bronson Battle Creek Emergency Department between a six
month time frame starting April 2012 and October 2012. This study is limited, since it only is surveying
the population that needs medical treatment. It does not include the healthy population who do not need
any medical treatment. It also excludes the percent of the population that have Medicaid or use charity to
pay for their medical care. The assumption for this study is that the percentage of the population living in
Calhoun County, that does not have health insurance, is 35 percent.

Method
This research study collected raw data by using a convenience sample on the number of patients
that came into the Emergency Department for medical treatment. It also kept track if the patients that
came into the hospital had health insurance or not. The information collected for this study was from

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

April 2012 through October 2012. In addition, data was collected from literature review on the
percentage of the population in the United States that do not have health insurance.
Participants
The participants for this study are the patients that come into Bronson Battle Creek Emergency
Department for medical treatment over a six months period of time, (April 2012 through October 2012).
Instrument
The raw data for this study was collected by a software program called Business Objects. All the
data entered by hospitals registration department is dumped into this data warehouse. The data collected
by this program is divided up and stored in different files on the hospitals computer system, in the P
drive.
Procedure
The first step in collecting data for this study was to log onto the hospitals computer system. After
starting up the computer, the P Drive had to be accessed. The P Drive stores all the files obtained through
Business Objects. Once in the P Drive, the file containing information for the 2012 fiscal year was located
and opened. From the 2012 file, data was copied on the number of patients that came into the emergency
department (ED) during the time frame of April 2012 through October 2012. After all the number of
patients where extracted, they were pasted on an excel sheet. The next step was to cross reference the
dates and number of patients to find the columns that contained the insurance information for these
patients. The column which showed self-pay/per day was copied and then pasted on an excel sheet,
adjacent to the number of patients per day. After all the raw data was collected and aligned side by side,
it was reviewed and interpreted. Pivot charts, grafts, and percentages were made to help decipher all the
data, and then the information was compared to the hypothesis to see if there were similarities or
differences.

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

10

The raw data, copied from the fiscal year 2012 in the p drive of the hospitals computer, on the
number of patients coming into ER from April 2012 through October, 2012 is listed below:
Emergency Room/April 2012

Emergency Room/May 2012

Emergency Room/June 2012

Adm

O/P

Total

Adm

O/P

Total

Adm

O/P

Total

22

107

129

14

105

119

15

106

121

15

127

142

11

125

136

12

117

129

14

93

107

12

108

120

122

131

14

108

122

16

118

134

22

114

136

24

100

124

11

112

123

18

105

123

14

89

103

12

114

126

14

106

120

114

121

21

124

145

113

121

17

97

114

25

130

155

14

114

128

17

106

123

17

126

143

16

119

135

22

119

141

19

113

132

14

114

128

15

117

132

16

95

111

21

132

153

12

121

133

14

106

120

15

100

115

20

115

135

18

111

129

21

108

129

13

114

127

22

121

143

16

100

116

19

126

145

20

111

131

17

114

131

12

128

140

18

125

143

15

116

131

14

98

112

15

91

106

15

97

112

12

113

125

15

96

111

15

113

128

15

114

129

18

111

129

17

112

129

14

101

115

15

108

123

18

97

115

22

117

139

13

120

133

17

117

134

12

124

136

13

102

115

11

127

138

22

122

144

31

106

137

13

124

137

16

129

145

15

100

115

21

134

155

95

104

12

120

132

16

133

149

10

124

134

11

128

139

17

108

125

18

108

126

10

113

123

13

116

129

12

101

113

20

118

138

23

105

128

10

127

137

17

136

153

14

106

120

21

96

117

41

48

12

67

79

7
469

3,356

3,825

485

3,334

3,819

464

3,350

3,814

Emergency Room/ July 2012


Emergency Room/Aug 2012

Emergency Room/Sept 2012

Adm

O/P

Total

Adm

O/P

Total

Adm

O/P

Total

10

132

142

11

100

111

15

127

142

30

112

142

17

102

119

13

152

165

16

120

136

16

119

135

12

132

144

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

11

13

103

116

13

127

140

23

109

132

14

132

146

13

106

119

19

120

139

131

140

18

137

155

20

129

149

13

137

150

19

125

144

13

133

146

13

122

135

15

120

135

14

143

157

22

123

145

109

118

18

129

147

16

121

137

119

128

12

133

145

16

130

146

13

99

112

15

124

139

12

104

116

110

119

15

126

141

16

113

129

20

119

139

12

108

120

132

140

23

114

137

12

126

138

19

109

128

23

96

119

129

136

21

118

139

18

125

143

15

130

145

21

99

120

17

101

118

19

127

146

21

121

142

13

129

142

23

126

149

14

122

136

20

121

141

122

129

21

96

117

19

134

153

17

125

142

129

138

15

118

133

14

105

119

25

133

158

16

123

139

15

127

142

23

131

154

12

143

155

14

112

126

12

130

142

19

107

126

15

137

152

17

120

137

12

110

122

16

132

148

19

117

136

17

118

135

16

112

128

11

106

117

18

116

134

10

121

131

10

113

123

14

137

151

13

123

136

13

115

128

14

120

134

20

123

143

13

120

133

16

115

131

11

117

128

18

104

122

20

98

118
445

3,759

4,204

495

3,695

4,190

488

3,617

4,105

The raw data: Comparing/aligning the total number of patients coming into the ED with the number of
patients with no health insurance by day.
Abbreviations: Adm= admission into the hospital

Total ER patients
Month
4
4
4

O/P = Outpatient

Self pay- no insurance

Adm

O/P

Total

22

107

129

Disch/Depart Date Patient Count


4/1/2012

19

15

127

142

4/2/2012

16

14

93

107

4/3/2012

14

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH


4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

12

14

108

122

4/4/2012

19

24

100

124

4/5/2012

20

14

89

103

4/6/2012

11

114

121

4/7/2012

24

17

97

114

4/8/2012

25

17

106

123

4/9/2012

19

22

119

141

4/10/2012

17

15

117

132

4/11/2012

23

12

121

133

4/12/2012

14

20

115

135

4/13/2012

23

13

114

127

4/14/2012

24

19

126

145

4/15/2012

19

12

128

140

4/16/2012

18

14

98

112

4/17/2012

22

12

113

125

4/18/2012

15

15

114

129

4/19/2012

20

14

101

115

4/20/2012

19

22

117

139

4/21/2012

19

12

124

136

4/22/2012

17

22

122

144

4/23/2012

27

16

129

145

4/24/2012

21
9

95

104

4/25/2012

10

124

134

4/26/2012

18

108

126

4/27/2012

16

12

101

113

4/28/2012

22

10

127

137

4/29/2012

12

21

96

117

4/30/2012

22

14

105

119

5/1/2012

11

11

125

136

5/2/2012

22

12

108

120

5/3/2012

16

16

118

134

5/4/2012

17

11

112

123

5/5/2012

23

12

114

126

5/6/2012

15

21

124

145

5/7/2012

22

25

130

155

5/8/2012

25

17

126

143

5/9/2012

26

19

113

132

5/10/2012

30

16

95

111

5/11/2012

17

14

106

120

5/12/2012

17

18

111

129

5/13/2012

16

22

121

143

5/14/2012

25

20

111

131

5/15/2012

20

18

125

143

5/16/2012

29

15

91

106

5/17/2012

12

15

96

111

5/18/2012

11

18

111

129

5/19/2012

14

15

108

123

5/20/2012

15

13

120

133

5/21/2012

21

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH


5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7

13

13

102

115

5/22/2012

14

31

106

137

5/23/2012

22

15

100

115

5/24/2012

18

12

120

132

5/25/2012

27

11

128

139

5/26/2012

21

10

113

123

5/27/2012

18

20

118

138

5/28/2012

28

17

136

153

5/29/2012

28

41

48

5/30/2012

19

5/31/2012

11

15

106

121

6/1/2012

15

12

117

129

6/2/2012

28

122

131

6/3/2012

18

22

114

136

6/4/2012

23

18

105

123

6/5/2012

22

14

106

120

6/6/2012

23

113

121

6/7/2012

22

14

114

128

6/8/2012

15

16

119

135

6/9/2012

21

14

114

128

6/10/2012

15

21

132

153

6/11/2012

19

15

100

115

6/12/2012

16

21

108

129

6/13/2012

20

16

100

116

6/14/2012

17

17

114

131

6/15/2012

24

15

116

131

6/16/2012

24

15

97

112

6/17/2012

16

15

113

128

6/18/2012

28

17

112

129

6/19/2012

17

18

97

115

6/20/2012

19

17

117

134

6/21/2012

20

11

127

138

6/22/2012

16

13

124

137

6/23/2012

17

21

134

155

6/24/2012

29

16

133

149

6/25/2012

24

17

108

125

6/26/2012

14

13

116

129

6/27/2012

20

23

105

128

6/28/2012

21

14

106

120

6/29/2012

23

12

67

79

6/30/2012

16

10

132

142

7/1/2012

23

30

112

142

7/2/2012

28

16

120

136

7/3/2012

22

13

103

116

7/4/2012

27

14

132

146

7/5/2012

31

131

140

7/6/2012

18

13

137

150

7/7/2012

25

13

122

135

7/8/2012

23

22

123

145

7/9/2012

32

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH


7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8

14

16

121

137

7/10/2012

19

16

130

146

7/11/2012

24

12

104

116

7/12/2012

23

16

113

129

7/13/2012

25

132

140

7/14/2012

27

19

109

128

7/15/2012

26

21

118

139

7/16/2012

17

21

99

120

7/17/2012

14

21

121

142

7/18/2012

20

14

122

136

7/19/2012

25

21

96

117

7/20/2012

17

129

138

7/21/2012

17

25

133

158

7/22/2012

14

23

131

154

7/23/2012

30

12

130

142

7/24/2012

25

17

120

137

7/25/2012

27

19

117

136

7/26/2012

20

11

106

117

7/27/2012

20

10

113

123

7/28/2012

20

13

115

128

7/29/2012

15

13

120

133

7/30/2012

23

18

104

122

7/31/2012

14

11

100

111

8/1/2012

23

17

102

119

8/2/2012

24

16

119

135

8/3/2012

27

13

127

140

8/4/2012

33

13

106

119

8/5/2012

18

18

137

155

8/6/2012

27

19

125

144

8/7/2012

18

15

120

135

8/8/2012

19

109

118

8/9/2012

119

128

8/10/2012

14

13

99

112

8/11/2012

13

110

119

8/12/2012

18

20

119

139

8/13/2012

21

23

114

137

8/14/2012

17

23

96

119

8/15/2012

13

18

125

143

8/16/2012

14

17

101

118

8/17/2012

12

13

129

142

8/18/2012

15

20

121

141

8/19/2012

20

19

134

153

8/20/2012

21

15

118

133

8/21/2012

27

16

123

139

8/22/2012

20

12

143

155

8/23/2012

18

19

107

126

8/24/2012

15

12

110

122

8/25/2012

16

17

118

135

8/26/2012

14

18

116

134

8/27/2012

17

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH


8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
Totals.

15

14

137

151

8/28/2012

17

14

120

134

8/29/2012

13

16

115

131

8/30/2012

15

20

98

118

8/31/2012

15

15

127

142

9/1/2012

23

13

152

165

9/2/2012

15

12

132

144

9/3/2012

14

23

109

132

9/4/2012

19

120

139

9/5/2012

14

20

129

149

9/6/2012

13

133

146

9/7/2012

16

14

143

157

9/8/2012

14

18

129

147

9/9/2012

11

12

133

145

9/10/2012

15

124

139

9/11/2012

15

126

141

9/12/2012

12

12

108

120

9/13/2012

13

12

126

138

9/14/2012

10

129

136

9/15/2012

16

15

130

145

9/16/2012

13

19

127

146

9/17/2012

14

23

126

149

9/18/2012

122

129

9/19/2012

17

125

142

9/20/2012

14

14

105

119

9/21/2012

10

15

127

142

9/22/2012

10

14

112

126

9/23/2012

13

15

137

152

9/24/2012

16

132

148

9/25/2012

16

112

128

9/26/2012

10

121

131

9/27/2012

13

123

136

9/28/2012

10

20

123

143

9/29/2012

16

11

117

128

9/30/2012

12

23957

3355

A Pivot graft that was made to help organizing all the monthly raw data is listed below:

Month

Data
Total patients No Insurance
4
3814
555
5
3819
610
6
3825
602
7
4190
691

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH


8
9
Grand Total

4105
4204
23957

16

562
335
3355

Results
The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of people living around Calhoun County
that do not have any type of health insurance. During a six month period, April 2012 through October
2012, the hypothesis estimated around 35 percent of the population coming into Bronson Battle Creek,
Emergency Department (ED) for medical treatment would not have any type of medical insurance.
Quantitative Findings
The quantitative findings for this study showed that 23,957 patients came into the hospitals
emergency department over the six month period, (April October, 2012), and 3,355 of them did not have
any health insurance: only 14 percent.
The Graphical representation below shows the number of patients coming into the hospital inbetween the time period of April, 2012 through October, 2012; and it includes the number of those
patients that did not have any health insurance.

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17

The Pie graft below summarizes the quantitative findings collected over the 6 months:

Design
The design of this study used the quantitative method for the collection of the data to help answer the
research problem. Quantitative data was obtained from the hospitals computer system to obtain actuate
data on the number of patients that came to the emergency department (ED) between the time periods of

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18

April, 2012 through October, 2012. Included in this data, was the actual number of patients who did not
have any type of medical insurance.
The hypothesis for this study, with a confidence level of 90%, is that 35% of the patients coming into
the ED would not have health insurance. To calculate the confidence interval, and to find the margin of
error, the p-hat formula is used. The first step in calculating the p-hat formula for the proportion of 35%
is to find all the numbers that will be needed for the equation. For example: the sample size (n), the p
(sample proportion or probability), the q (the proportion not wanted), and the zza (margin of error). For
this study: the sample size is the number of days the data was collect183. The p is the
hypothesis/percentage of patients without health insurance -- 14% or 0.14. The q is the percentage of
patients with health insurance 86% or 0.86. And finally the zza (margin of error) for this study is 90%,
which is equal to 1.65. The p-hat equation to calculate the confidence interval lower number is: p
minus zza times the square root of (p times q divided by n), and then the equation to calculate the phat higher number is: p plus zza times the square root of (p times q divided by n). For example:

pp - z/2 x

(p*q)

< p<

pp + z/2 x

0.14-1.65 x (0.14 x 0.86)


183

< p<

0.14+1.65 x (0.14 x 0.86)


183

0.14 - 1.65 x (0.120) < p < 0.14 +1.65 x


183
0.14 - 1.65 (0.0007) < p <

(0.120)
n

0.14 + 165(.0007)

0.14 - 1.65* 0.026 < p <


0.14 0 - 0.042 < p <

(p*q)

0 .14 + .165*0.026

0 .14 + 0.042

0.098 to 0.182 or 9.3% to 18.2 %

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The results for this p- hat equation, with a confidence interval of 90 percent, should be somewhere inbetween 9.3% to 18.2%.

Discussion
This study only showed that 14 percent of the patients that came into Bronson Battle Creek
Emergency Department were without any medical insurance. The hypothesis was 35 percent. This study
is not a true picture of the areas population, since it did not include the healthy people that did not seek
medical treatment during the six month time period.
Interpretation of Findings
As stated above, the percentage of people seeking treatment at Bronson Battle Creek was only 14
percent which is less than the national average of 16.3 percent. The month of September had the lowest
percentage of patients without health insurance7.96%, while July had the highest percentage at
16.49%. The results of the P hat for a 90% confidence level showed that the hypothesis for this study
should have been somewhere in-between 9.3% to 18.2%. After calculating the confidence level, the
hypothesis for this study should be rejected or changed.
The table below shows the percentages per month, and the percentage obtained over the six month
period, (April, 2012 through October, 2012), on the number of patients that came into the ED without
health insurance:

HEALTH INSURANCE RESEARCH

Month

Percentage with
no insurance
April
14.55%
May
15.97%
June
15.73%
July
16.49%
August
13.69%
September
7.96%
Total six months14.00%
Number
of patients per
month.

20

Average/Mean

Average/mean
without insurance

3993

559

The average number of patients that came into the hospital per month was 3993, which included the
average number of patient that did not have insurance of 559 per month.
Limitations
As mentioned above, this study is limited, since it only is surveying the population that needs medical
treatment. It does not include the healthy population who do not need any medical treatment. It also does
not include the percent of the population that have Medicaid or use Charity to pay for their medical care.
Recommendations for Use
This study was intended just to bring awareness to the problem of how many people are uninsured.
More research needs to be done to plan for the future, and to help make health insurance affordable to
everyone.
Recommendations for Further Research
For a more accurate percentage of the Calhoun County population that does not have any type of
health insurance, future research should be done by doing phone surveys, or door to door using random
samples. . A lot of people that do not have health insurance do no come to the hospital unless they have

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21

an accident or are really sick. A lot a people with children were not captured in this research study. A
random sample of the population should be done on people with no health insurance, and the ones that
require assistance from other government agencies; such as: Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Charity pay.
Conclusion
The hypothesis for this study, that 35% of the population in Calhoun County does not have health
insurance, was way out of the ball park and should be rejected. The result of 14% for six months was
closer to the national average of 16.3%. If the study included some of the limitations that were
mentioned: such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Charity pay patients, the results from this research project
could have come closer to the hypothesis.

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References
Christie, L. (2011, September 13). Number of people without health insurance climbs. CNN Money.
Retrieved October 16, 2012, from
http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/13/news/economy/census_bureau_health_insurance/index.htm
Miller, J. (2012, October 1). Issue brief: Health care. CBS News. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505103_162-57522437/issue-brief-health-care/

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