In the case “Health Care Costs
Associated with Smoking: A National Perceptive,” a heat map
of total health care expenses suggested that states with larger populations
had larger total health care expenses. This is to be expected as
larger populations will have more smokers and hence more smoking-related
costs. To compare states of different population sizes equitably,
we can adjust the health care expenditures for population size. This
can be done by creating new columns with the formula editor. To create
total health care expenditures adjusted for state population, navigate
to the last column in the data table and double click to the right
to add a new column. Double click on the column header and enter
the column name “Adjusted Total Healthcare Expense ($ mil/capita)”
then right click and select Formula. Enter the formula as shown in
Figure 5.3 Formula to Create Adjusted Total Healthcare Expenditures.
Modify the column name
to reflect the units of dollars per capita.
Across the United States
the average annual cost per person for smoking-related health care
costs is $459.08. An internet search can quickly validate the reasonableness
of this per capita average. The column Cessation Expenditures ($)
should also be adjusted to a per capita basis.