Segal Benz Blog

Great illustration of big numbers | Segal Benz

Written by Jennifer Benz | September 30, 2008

Blue Shield Advocacy Site Puts Uninsured in Perspective

I’m always looking for good ways to illustrate big numbers. Health care costs for any company are a huge factor, but it is really hard to make any number with more than 5 zeros meaningful for employees.

Blue Shield’s Let’s Shield California site puts the focus on California’s 6.7 million people without health insurance. The interactive site is simple and compelling by giving clear examples and surprising statistics like “40% of uninsured Californians have household income over $50,000.”

The tool “How big is 6.7m?” gives five ways to understand just how big 6,700,000 is. From counting up that many people based on “Actors in LA” and the population of San Francisco to drawing a line of people across the state—even seeing how many seconds you can hold your breath. It is a great example of how powerful numbers can be when you give people a way to really understand them.