The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a continuing data collection effort designed to track changes in health status, use of health care services, costs for health care, and access to health care. Each year a new sample of households is selected to provide data for the study for two full calendar years, and each year the MEPS Medical Provider Component (MPC) contacts the pharmacies/hospitals/medical providers reported by the household participants. A provider may be contacted in successive years if a household reports receiving care in consecutive years or if households in a new sample report seeing the same providers as households in a previous sample.
|