The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a set of
large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical
providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS is the most complete
source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance
coverage. Learn more about MEPS.
Survey Instruments The Social and Health Experiences Self-Administered Questionnaire was first administered to adults in Spring 2021. This supplement asked new questions about social and behavioral factors, including measures of general life satisfaction, housing quality, neighborhood characteristics, measures of financial strain, stress, food security, physical activity, transportation issues, measures of social connectedness, measures of loneliness, experiences of discrimination, experiences of physical and social violence, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Survey Instruments The Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ) for 2021 has been posted. This supplement, which was last administered in 2019, collects a variety of health status and health care quality measures from adults.
Survey Instruments The Diabetes Care Survey (DCS) for 2021 has been posted. Households receive a DCS based on their response to a question in the Priority Condition section of the CAPI instrument, which asks whether or not the respondent was ever told by a doctor or health professional that he/she had diabetes.
Survey Instruments The MPC Authorization Forms for 2021 have been posted. Authorization forms are signed by patients interviewed by MEPS and permit MPC staff to contact medical providers and pharmacies. They also authorize providers to release medical information about their patients.
Survey Instruments The HC Interview Showcards for 2021 have been posted. Showcards assist MEPS respondents by providing them with paper versions of definitions or response categories that pertain to specific questionnaire items throughout the computer-assisted personal interview, or CAPI.
Survey Instruments The HC Survey Questionnaires for 2021 have been posted. Four new survey sections were added for 2021: Covid Delays (CV), Food Security (FS), Social and Health Experiences (SHE), and Telehealth (TE). You can find descriptions for those new sections on the Summary of HC Questionnaire Sections page.
Publication Updates MEPS-IC Research Published Elsewhere. Reference citations for external publications using MEPS-IC data, including three Conference Proceedings, 19 Journal Articles, and 14 Working Papers, were recently posted to the MEPS site. You can find links to these publication details using the Option Three search on the Publications Search page, or by referring to the Publication Updates section of the What's New page. Posted on 3/17/2023.
AHRQ will be conducting a virtual MEPS-HC Data Users' Workshop on March 28-30, 2023.
This workshop will consist of lectures designed to provide a general overview of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) along with lectures on MEPS-HC survey design, recent survey changes, health care utilization, expenditures, medical conditions, and statistical issues and challenges researchers face while analyzing MEPS-HC data. There will be three separate sessions in which sample SAS, STATA and R exercises will be demonstrated, along with time assigned for Q&A. Register here: https://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/about_meps/workshops_events.jsp.