This chart shows the total average monthly cost of medical insurance benefits for employees working in the private sector in march 2006. for single coverage, the cost is $322.77, and for family coverage, it is $889.26. if an employee makes $10 per hour (after withholdings) and has to pay the full cost of single coverage medical insurance, about how many hours will he or she have to work each month simply to pay for the cost of the medical insurance

It is given in this item that the subject of interest has to pay the single coverage for the medical insurance and is given to be equal to $322.77. 

Let x be the number of hours that a person should work in order to pay for the cost of the medical insurance. The value of this variable is calculated by dividing the total insurance cost by the amount that a person earns every hour.

                             x = $322.77 / ($10/hr)
                             x = 32.277 hours

Therefore, the number of hours that a person should work is equal to 32.277 which is approximately equal to 32 hours and 17 minutes.