Healthcare Analysis of Newspaper Research

Healthcare

Analysis of Newspaper Research Report Results

In the newspaper article Study finds health care gaps, descriptive statistics were used to evaluate a study that was done by Families USA, a public interest group that monitors health care issues, about health care in the state of Pennsylvania. Descriptive statistics are normally used to describe the essential features of a data study. They tend to provide simple summaries about the sample and the measures. They are typically used together with simple graphics analysis, in order to form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of data (Descriptive Statistics, 2006).

Descriptive Statistics are used to put quantitative descriptions into a form that is manageable. A research study may have lots of measures that are being looked at, or may measures that contain large numbers of people. Descriptive statistics help to simplify these large amounts of data in a sensible way. Each descriptive statistic reduces big amounts of data into a simple summary (Descriptive Statistics, 2006).

The study that was done by Families USA, found that more than a quarter of state residents younger than 65 have lived without health care insurance at some point in the last two years. The report is based on an analysis of data from the Census Bureau and the federal Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. The report was the latest in a series of state-by-state reports on the insured issued by Families USA as the Obama administration begins its push for health care reform. Those in charge in the state of Pennsylvania say that these numbers are a compelling reason for the state to begin addressing this ever growing issue. They feel that they can not wait to see what the Obama administration is going to do, but that they must begin now to find an answer (Krawczeniuk, 2009).

This report also found that Black and Latino adults were even likelier than whites to lack coverage. Almost half of Latinos (46.5%), more than a third of blacks (37.7%) and more than three in 10 (30.6%) of other ethnic or racial minorities lacked coverage compared to about a quarter of whites (24.6%). In addition it was found that more than three quarters (76.5%) of the uninsured were in working families. It was also reported that families with incomes less than twice the poverty level were far likelier to be uninsured (48.3%) compared to families with income above that threshold (19.5%) (Krawczeniuk, 2009).

If you look at the results that were obtained from this study in comparison to what is going on all across our country you find that what is going on in Pennsylvania seems to be typical of what is being seen across the nation as a whole. Across the nation nearly 46 million Americans, or 18% of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007, according to the latest government data. Nearly 90 million people or about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2006 or 2007 without health coverage. (Health Insurance Coverage, 2009). This is just a little higher than what was reported in the state of Pennsylvania over the last two-year period, which was at 25% (Krawczeniuk, 2009). "The number of uninsured rose 2.2 million between 2005 and 2006 and has increased by almost 8 million people since 2000" (Health Insurance Coverage, 2009).

Most Americans are provided with health insurance coverage through their employers. But in today's society employment is no longer a guarantee of health insurance coverage. "As America continues to move from a manufacturing-based economy to a service economy, and employee working patterns continue to evolve, health insurance coverage has become less stable. The service sector tends to offer less access to health insurance than the manufacturing sector does. Further, an increasing reliance on part-time and contract workers who are not eligible for coverage means fewer workers have access to employer-sponsored health insurance" (Health Insurance Coverage, 2009).

Due to the fact that health insurance premiums are on the rise, many small employers cannot afford to offer health benefits. Companies that do offer health insurance are requiring employees to contribute bigger and bigger shares toward their coverage. And because of this an increasing number of Americans are opting not to take advantage of health insurance that is offered by their employers because they simply cannot afford it (Health Insurance Coverage, 2009).