NYS Percentage of Pouplation Enrolled in Medicaid

Note that NYC area is exempt

Created by Kevin Lieberth & Gary Peacock

Description of Patterns:

The Social Map of New York State that I have chosen to create is an interactive choropleth map that portrays the percentage of Medicaid enrollees within each New York State county.  The map defines the boundaries of each of the 62 counties within New York State, while it also portrays the percentage of Medicaid enrollees within each of these counties by shading the counties in a green color gradient scheme.  The gradient color scheme displays the counties with higher percentages of Medicaid enrollees with darker shades of green, while displaying counties with lower percentages of Medicaid enrollees with a lighter shade of green. It is also important to note that although this map does define the boundaries of the 5 counties around the New York City area that these counties are not given percentages of their populations that are enrolled in Medicaid and are therefore not a part of this map.  After describing how this data is depicted on my map some patterns can be seen.  The first pattern that struck out to me the most can be seen in the lowly percentage of Medicaid enrollees within the more urbanized areas of New York State.  These more urbanized areas can be seen within the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Albany, and Wayne; all which having percentages of Medicaid enrollees below 16%.  Another pattern that stuck out while looking at this map can be seen in the relatively lowly percentages of Medicaid enrollees within the Hudson Valley region.   Another pattern that sticks out can be seen in the concentration of wealth around the counties of Saratoga, and Tompkins; with each county having extremely low percentages of Medicaid enrollees.  And yet another pattern can also be seen in the county of Hamilton that has an extremely low percentage of Medicaid enrollees that is highlighted when comparing this county to its neighboring counties and the State as a whole.

Analysis of Patterns:

Looking at these patterns that I have described some possible conclusions can be made.  The first possible conclusion can be connected to the relatively higher percentages of Medicaid enrollees within the more rural counties than the urban counties.  These patterns can possibly be explained by the local economies of these counties.  Counties that have become more urbanized have also attracted more businesses and therefore more jobs, making it more possible for people living within these counties to afford to purchase health care for themselves and their families.  While more rural counties have become less likely to attract new businesses and therefore have not been able to create more jobs, making it harder for people within these counties to afford to purchase healthcare for themselves and their families.   The second conclusion can be connected to the significantly lower percentages of Medicaid enrollees within the Hudson Valley region.  These patterns can be explained by the ongoing gentrification of the Hudson Valley due to the urbanite migration from the NYC area.  Due to this ongoing gentrification of the Hudson Valley more wealth has come become concreted in this area and is reflected in the maps lower percentages of Medicaid enrollees within the Hudson Valley.  Another possible conclusion can be connected to the lowly percentage of Medicaid enrollees within the counties of Saratoga and Tompkins.  With each of these counties having Medicaid enrollees percentages lower than 12 %, it can be argued that these counties reflect the concentration of wealth within their populations, which are becoming  characterized by their influx of retirees,  existing Educational Institutions and jobs, and revitalization projects. 

Publication information of data sources:

The source for my New York State Medicaid Enrollees : 2010 data was created by the New York State Department of Health in 2010.  The data file is available in the form of an Microsoft excel spreadsheet at http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/health_care/medicaid/eligible_expenditures/,  accessed on May 11, 2012.

The source for the total population of each NYS county was created by U.S. Census Bureau in 2009. The data was available at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36000lk.html, accessed on May 11, 2012.

The source for my New York State Counties data was created and made available by Google. The date of publication is unavailable. Accessed on March 30th.