The U.S. total annual out-of-pocket health care costs (actual and projected in billions of dollars) for selected years from 2003 and projected to 2024 are given in the following table.
(a) Plot the data, with x representing the number of years after 2000 and y representing the expenses.
(b) Find a linear and a cubic function model for the data.
(c) Use both models to estimate the per capita expenses in 2024 (to the nearest dollar). Comment on how well the models approximate the projected data value.
