Question

5. In 2015, Texas led the nation in the percentage of people who lacked health insurance (21.6% of the population). It is known that, nationally, 5% of patients account for 50% of the costs of healthcare. These are the “high cost” patients Assume* that: Being a high cost patient and being uninsured are independent characteristics Insured and uninsured people become “patients” at the same rate The uninsured and high cost patients in Texas are evenly distributed across the state, and that high cost patients are evenly distributed across insured and uninsured patient populations a. What is the probability that a patient in a Texas healthcare facility will be a high cost patient who is uninsured?

Answer 1

Answer: 0.108

Explanation:

Since the probability of the uninsured is 21.6% of the population, then the probability of insured will be:

= 1 - 21.6%

= 78.4%

The probability of high cost patients is 5%. Therefore, the probability that a patient in a Texas healthcare facility will be a high cost patient who is uninsured will be:

= 5% × 21.6%

= 0.05 × 0.216

= 0.108