The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey AHRQÕs Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is an ongoing series of annual surveys designed to continually provide policymakers, health care administrators, businesses, and others with timely, comprehensive information about health care use and costs in the United States and to improve the accuracy of their economic projections. As a health care survey, MEPS emphasizes and provides a broad range of estimates on insurance status. Its utility as a natural benchmark has been reinforced by the adoption of MEPS premium cost estimates in the Gross Domestic Product. MEPS is unique in its ability to link data on individuals and households (including demographics, health status, employment, and income) to information on their use of health care. No other survey contains such a wide range of data essential for analyzing health spending and insurance coverage. For purposes of this synthesis, the household and insurance components of MEPS are especially important since they offer detailed statistical information on many health-insurance-related questions. In 2003, the MEPS-HC (Household Component) surveyed 15,000 families including 37,000 individuals; it has had a response rate of over 70 percent. The MEPS-IC (Insurance Component) surveys 42,000 business establishments and governments and has a response rate of 78 percent. For more information, see the MEPS Web site at: http://www.ahrq.gov/data/mepsix.htm Table 1. Offer, eligibility, and enrollment rates among private-sector employees, 1996-2002 Private-sector employees 1996 2002 Percent change All employees Offer 86.5 88.3 +1.8 Eligibility 81.3 77.1 -4.2 Enrollment 69.6 62.4 -7.2 Enrollment-when-eligiblea 85.5 81.0 -4.5 Full-time employees Offer 89.9 91.3 +1.4 Eligibility 89.7 87.3 -2.4 Enrollment 77.9 72.6 -5.3 Enrollment-when-eligible 86.9 83.1 -3.8 Part-time employees Offer 71.2 76.5 +5.3 Eligibility 33.6 28.1 -5.5 Enrollment 21.5 14.2 -7.3 Enrollment-when-eligible 64.0 50.7 -13.3 aRatio of the enrollment rate to the eligibility rate. Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Health Insurance Component Analytical Tool (MEPSnet/IC) {online database}. Web site: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsnet/IC/MEPSnetIC.asp. Accessed Aug. 4, 2004. MEPS data and research publications MEPS disseminates its health care data and publications in a variety of formats. ¥ Public use files can beÐ Ð Downloaded from the MEPS Web site: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/. Ð Ordered from AHRQ as diskettes (floppy disks) or CD-ROMs. Web site: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/ Data_Public.htm. ¥ Tabulated data can beÐ Ð Reviewed on MEPS Web sites: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/Data_Pub/IC_TOC.htm or http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/ CompendiumTables/TC_TOC.htm. Ð Customized via an online analytical tool called MEPSNet. Web site: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/ MEPSNet. This approach allows users with only limited programming resources to use MEPS data. ¥ MEPS publicationsÑ Ð Are available on the MEPS Web site to be viewed online or printed as PDF files. Ð Can be searched through the MEPS Publications Database (Web site: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/ PrintProducts/PrintProdSearch.asp), which allows searching for specific publications and sorting of results by various options. ¥ MEPS research done by outside researchersÑ Ð May be available as reprints through the AHRQ Web site: www.ahrq.gov. Ð May be viewable through MEDLINE¨ or other publication databases of the National Library of Medicine¨: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/. Previous issues of Research in Action are available for free from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse: 1-800-358-9295. Please specify the AHRQ publication number when you call. Issue Title Publication Number 16 Programs and Tools to Improve the Quality of Mental AHRQ 04-0061 Health Services 15 Women and Domestic Violence: Programs and Tools That AHRQ 04-0055 Improve Care for Victims 14 Hospital Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care AHRQ 04-0029 13 Dental Care: Improving Access and Quality AHRQ 03-0040 12 Advance Care Planning: Preferences for Care at the End of Life AHRQ 03-0018 11 AHRQ Tools for Managed Care AHRQ 03-0016 10 AHRQ Tools and Resources for Better Health Care AHRQ 03-0008 9 Reducing Costs in the Health Care System: Learning From AHRQ 02-0046 What Has Been Done 8 Prescription Drug Therapies: Reducing Costs and Improving AHRQ 02-0045 Outcomes 7 Improving Treatment Decisions for Patients with Community- AHRQ 02-0033 Acquired Pneumonia 6 Medical Informatics for Better and Safer Health Care AHRQ 02-0031 5 Expanding Patient-Centered Care to Empower Patients and AHRQ 02-0024 Assist Providers 4 Managing Osteoarthritis: Helping the Elderly Maintain Function AHRQ 02-0023 and Mobility 3 Preventing Disability in the Elderly With Chronic Disease AHRQ 02-0018 2 Improving Care for Diabetes Patients Through Intensive AHRQ 02-0005 Therapy and a Team Approach 1 Reducing and Preventing Adverse Drug Events To Decrease AHRQ 01-0020 Hospital Costs