Question: Americans spent the following amounts for medical care between 1987 and 1993, in billions of dollars (World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1995, p. 128).

Year                         1987        1988        1989        1990        1991        1992        1993

Amount spent            399.0       487.7       536.4       597.8       651.7       704.6       760.5

a. Create a "medical care index" for each of these years, using 1987 as a base.

b. Comment on how the cost of medical care has changed between 1987 and 1993, relative to the change in the Consumer Price Index, which was 113.6 in 1987 and 144.5 in 1993.