U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Medical Expenditure Panel (MEPS)

Supplier
AHRQ
Years Available
1977 and 1987 (National Medical Care Expenditure Surveys); 1996 to present (MEPS)
Periodicity
Annual since 1996
Mode of Collection
Sample surveys. Household component: in-person interview; Insurance component: telephone interview or mail questionnaire; Medical component: telephone interview or record abstraction.
Description
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) produces nationally representative estimates of health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, insurance coverage, and quality of care for the United States civilian noninstitutionalized population. The survey features several rounds of interviewing covering 2 full calendar years. MEPS consists of two major components: (1) the Household Component, a nationally representative survey of the civilian noninstitutionalized population; and (2) the Insurance Component, which collects data from employers on the types and costs of workplace health insurance. MEPS also includes a Medical Provider Component, which collects data from medical care providers and facilities reported as providing care to persons interviewed in the Household Component. Its purpose is to supplement or replace information received from Household Component respondents.
Selected Content
Sociodemographic characteristics, health care utilization, type of health insurance, sources of payment for health care, health care and medication expenses.
Population Covered
U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
Methodology
The Household Component (HC) of MEPS is drawn from a subsample of households that participated in the prior year's National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics (CDC, NCHS). Missing expenditure data are imputed using data collected in the Medical Provider Component (MPC) whenever possible. The MPC collects data from hospitals, physicians, home health care providers, and pharmacies that were reported in the HC as providing care to MEPS sample persons. The MPC is particularly useful in obtaining expenditure information for persons enrolled in managed care plans and for Medicaid recipients. Sample sizes for the MPC vary from year to year depending on the HC sample size and the MPC sampling rates for providers. The Insurance Component (IC) consists of two subcomponent samples: a household sample and a list sample. The household sample collects detailed information from employers on the health insurance held by and offered to MEPS-HC respondents. The list sample collects data on the types and costs of workplace health insurance from about 40,000 business establishments and governments each year.
Response Rates and Sample Size
In the 2014 MEPS, 13,421 families were covered, with 33,162 respondents over the course of the year. For the same year, the overall response rate was 48.5%, reflecting nonresponse to the National Health Interview Survey, from which the MEPS sample was selected, as well as nonresponse and attrition in MEPS.
References