Open AccessIdentifying the insured and uninsured in rural America: an empirical discriminant analysis
Author(s) -
Promise Tewogbola,
Norah Aung
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
aims public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2327-8994
DOI - 10.3934/publichealth.2021032
Subject(s) - discriminant function analysis , linear discriminant analysis , government (linguistics) , multiple discriminant analysis , health insurance , medicine , variables , actuarial science , family medicine , health care , business , economics , statistics , economic growth , mathematics , philosophy , linguistics
Purpose This present study sought to investigate whether there were factors that could discriminate insured from uninsured rural Americans. Methods Data for four groups were used: 34 uninsured, 102 government-insured (GP), 324 private- or employer-insured (PEP), and 96 both government- and private- or employer-insured (GPEP). A discriminant analysis was conducted on the four groups, using group membership as the dependent variable; age, education, income, attitude to insurance, emergency room visit, chronic disease prevalence were the independent variables. Findings The analysis yielded three discriminant functions, however the only significant function was the one that discriminated the PEP-insured individuals from the other groups. About 48% of the cases were classified correctly with the significant discriminant function. Conclusion The findings of this study can serve as a baseline for future research seeking to eradicate barriers to getting health insurance among the uninsured in rural America.