In the last century the United States has begun to develop a notorious reputation due to its citizens' poor lifestyle choices that result in high levels of health related deaths like cancer, obesity, diabetes, and more. Along with elevated cases of health issues, the US healthcare system is one of the worst among industrialized countries. By merging data that illustrates the 10 leading causes of death in each state with data that analyzes the types of health insurance coverage in each state we hope to be able to identify a relationship between healthcare coverage and the remarkably elevated health related Deaths in the United States.
As the cost of living and healthcare continue to increase, it is becoming increasingly important to lead more health conscious lives and be aware of which insurances provide the best and most affordable access to live life to the fullest. We are curious to see if there is a connection between how states are insured and how high the health related deaths are. The comparison of these two datasets will hopefully allow us to answer the following questions:
- How does the average uninsured percentage by regions in the US affect the average number of deaths per 100,000 between 2008 and 2017? Does higher uninsured percentage lead to higher number of deaths on average?
- Do regions/states with higher percentages of “low income insurance/no insurance” have higher rates of deaths by diseases that could be medically treated/prevented like heart disease and diabetes? Are there relationships between certain health insurance types and deaths that are commonly associated with the population that holds said insurance type?
- Does a specific region of the US have higher average deaths per 100,000 in categories like heart disease, stroke, and cancer which could be medically linked to each other? Do we see trends in other causes of death in specific regions of the US?
The results of comparing these datasets can be of interest to a wide range of people. It targets insurance groups who can use the data to incentivise consumers to choose their insurance. It targets policymakers and healthcare professionals who are looking to improve our current helathcare system. This story also targets any American who prioritizes their health and wants to know which, if any, health insurance provider will make a difference in the wellbeing of their life.
This visualization above helps answer our first question that asks if a higher uninsured percentage leads to a higher number of deaths on average. We can see from the treandline that a higher uninsured percentage generally does result in gigher average deaths per 100,000. This trend of higher death rates with higher uninsured rates is constant within regions and winthin the country as a whole.