MEPS HC-114: MEPS Panel 11 Longitudinal Data File
December 2009
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850
(301) 427-1406
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Data Use Agreement
B. Background
1.0 Household Component
2.0 Medical Provider Component
3.0 Survey Management and Data Collection
C. Technical and Programming Information
1.0 General Information
2.0 Data File Information
2.1 Variables
2.1.1 Variables from Annual Full-Year Consolidated Files
2.1.2 Constructed Variables for Selection of Analytic Group Files
2.1.3 Estimation Variables
A. Data Use Agreement
Direct individual identifiers have
been removed from the micro-data contained in these files. Nevertheless,
under data Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42, U.S.
Code, 242m(d)) and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) (Title 5 of PL 107-347), National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) data must be used for statistical purposes
only and no attempt must be made to identify individuals. The provisions
of CIPSEA provide for a felony conviction and/or fine of up to $250,000
if this promise is violated. In addition, data collected by the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and /or the NCHS may not
be used for any purpose other than for the purpose for which it was
supplied; any effort to determine the identity of any reported cases,
is prohibited by law.
Unauthorized disclosure of confidential information is also subject
to penalty under Title IX of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C.
299, Section 924(d), which reads as follows:
"Any person who violates subsection (c) shall be subject to a
civil monetary penalty of not more the same manner as civil money penalties
under subsection (a) of section 1128A of the Social Security Act are
imposed and collected."
Therefore in accordance with the above referenced Federal Statute,
it is understood that:
- No one is to use the data in this data set in any way except
for statistical reporting and analysis; and
- If the identity of any person or establishment should be discovered
inadvertently, then (a) no use will be made of this knowledge,
(b) the Director Office of Management AHRQ will be advised of
this incident,
(c) the information that would identify any individual or establishment
will be safeguarded or destroyed, as requested by AHRQ, and (d)
no one else will be informed of the discovered identity; and
- No one will attempt to link this data set with individually
identifiable records from any data sets other than the Medical
Expenditure Panel
Survey or the National Health Interview Survey.
By using these data you signify your agreement to comply with
the above stated statutorily based requirements with the
knowledge that deliberately
making a false statement in any matter within the jurisdiction
of any department or agency of the Federal Government violates
Title 18 part
1 Chapter 47 Section 1001 and is punishable by a fine of
up to $10,000 or up to 5 years in prison.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality requests that users
cite AHRQ and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey as the data source
in any publications or research based upon these data.
Return To Table Of Contents
B. Background
1.0 Household Component
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
(MEPS) provides nationally representative estimates of health care
use, expenditures, sources of payment, and health insurance coverage
for the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population. The MEPS Household
Component (HC) also provides estimates of respondents' health status,
demographic and socio-economic characteristics, employment, access
to care, and satisfaction with health care. Estimates can be produced
for individuals, families, and selected population subgroups. The panel
design of the survey, which includes 5 Rounds of interviews covering
2 full calendar years, provides data for examining person level changes
in selected variables such as expenditures, health insurance coverage,
and health status. Using computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI)
technology, information about each household member is collected, and
the survey builds on this information from interview to interview.
All data for a sampled household are reported by a single household
respondent.
The MEPS-HC was initiated in 1996. Each year a new panel of sample
households is selected. Because the data collected are comparable
to those from earlier medical expenditure surveys conducted in
1977 and
1987, it is possible to analyze long-term trends. Each annual MEPS-HC
sample size is about 15,000 households. Data can be analyzed at either
the person or event level. Data must be weighted to produce national
estimates.
The set of households selected for each panel of the MEPS HC is a
subsample of households participating in the previous year's National
Health
Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by the National Center for Health
Statistics. The NHIS sampling frame provides a nationally representative
sample of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population and
reflects an oversample of blacks and Hispanics. MEPS oversamples
additional
policy relevant sub-groups such as Asians and low income households.
The linkage of the MEPS to the previous year's NHIS provides additional
data for longitudinal analytic purposes.
Return To Table Of Contents
2.0 Medical Provider Component
Upon completion of the household
CAPI interview and obtaining permission from the household survey respondents,
a sample of medical providers are contacted by telephone to obtain
information that household respondents can not accurately provide.
This part of the MEPS is called the Medical Provider Component (MPC)
and information is collected on dates of visit, diagnosis and procedure
codes, charges and payments. The Pharmacy Component (PC), a subcomponent
of the MPC, does not collect charges or diagnosis and procedure codes
but does collect drug detail information, including National Drug Code
(NDC) and medicine name, as well as date filled and sources and amounts
of payment. The MPC is not designed to yield national estimates. It
is primarily used as an imputation source to supplement/replace household
reported expenditure information.
Return To Table Of Contents
3.0 Survey Management and Data Collection
MEPS HC and MPC data are collected
under the authority of the Public Health Service Act. Data are collected
under contract with Westat, Inc. Data sets and summary statistics are
edited and published in accordance with the confidentiality provisions
of the Public Health Service Act and the Privacy Act. The National
Center for Health statistics (NCHS) provides consultation and technical
assistance.
As soon as data collection and editing are completed, the MEPS survey
data are released to the public in staged releases of summary reports,
micro data files, and tables via the MEPS web site: www.meps.ahrq.gov. Selected
data can be analyzed through MEPSnet, an on-line interactive tool designed
to give data users the capability to statistically analyze MEPS data
in a menu-driven environment.
Additional information on MEPS is available from the MEPS project
manager or the MEPS public use data manager at the Center for Financing
Access
and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540
Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850 (301-427-1406). Return To Table Of Contents
C. Technical and Programming Information
1.0 General Information
For MEPS Panels 1-8, longitudinal weight
files that were released contained a limited number of variables that could
be merged with data from two consecutive full-year consolidated files to
create a longitudinal file for analysis. Beginning with Panel 9, AHRQ has
replaced the longitudinal weight files with more complete and analytically
useful panel-specific files that contain the variables from the consolidated
full-year files.
This documentation describes the Panel 11 longitudinal data file from the
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC). Released
as an ASCII file (with related SAS and SPSS programming statements and data
use information) and a SAS transport dataset, this public use file provides
information collected on a nationally representative sample of the civilian
noninstitutionalized population of the United States for the two-year period
2006-07. The file contains 3,286 variables and has a logical record length
of 8,569 with an additional 2-byte carriage return/line feed at the end of
each record.
This file consists of MEPS survey data obtained in Rounds 1-5 of MEPS Panel
11 and can be used to analyze changes over a two-year period. Variables in
the file pertaining to survey administration, demographics, employment, health
status, disability days, quality of care, patient satisfaction, health insurance
and medical care use and expenditures were obtained from the MEPS 2006 and
2007 Full-Year Consolidated Files (HC-105 and HC-113, respectively).
The following documentation offers a brief overview of the contents and
structure of the files and programming information. A codebook of all
the variables included in the Panel 11 data file is provided in a separate
file
(H114CB.PDF). A database of all MEPS products released to date and
a variable locator indicating the major MEPS data items on public use
files that have
been released to date can be found on the MEPS Web site: www.meps.ahrq.gov. Return To Table Of Contents
2.0 Data File Information
This public use file contains records
for 16,533 persons in Panel 11 who were respondents for the period they were
in-scope for the survey (i.e., a member of the civilian non-institutionalized
population) during the two-year period. Data are available for all five rounds
for 91% of the cases (15,052). The remaining 9% (1,481 persons) do not have
data for one or more rounds but were in-scope for all rounds they participated
in the survey. These persons are those who
were born, died, were in the military or an institution, or left the country
during the two-year period. In constrast, persons in the panel who participated
in the survey for only part of the period they were in-scope are not included
in this file. To compensate for this attrition, adjustments were made in
the construction of the panel weight variable included in this file (LONGWT).
The codebook provides both weighted and unweighted frequencies for each variable
on the data file. The LONGWT variable should be used to produce national
estimates for the two-year period.
Each MEPS panel can be linked
back to the previous years National Health Interview Survey public
use data files. For information on obtaining
MEPS/NHIS
link files please see http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/more_info_download_data_files.jsp. Return To Table Of Contents
2.1 Variables
2.1.1 Variables from Annual Full-Year Consolidated Files
Most variables on this file were
obtained from the MEPS 2006 and 2007 Full-Year Consolidated Files (HC-105
and HC-113, respectively). However, names for time dependent variables
from these files were modified in order to: 1) eliminate duplicate
variable names for data reflecting different time periods during the
panel, and 2) standardize variable names to facilitate pooling of multiple
MEPS panels for analysis.1 Generally,
annual variables with a suffix of "06" and "07" are
renamed with a suffix of "Y1" and "Y2", respectively.
Variables with a suffix of "31", "42", and "53" are
renamed with a suffix denoting the round the data was collected (i.e.,
"1","2" or "3" for
variables originating from Rounds 1-3 on the 2006 full-year file and "3", "4",
or "5" for variables originating from Rounds 3-5
on the 2007 full-year file).2 It is necessary to use this crosswalk
in conjunction
with documentation for the 2006 and 2007 full-year consolidated files
to obtain a full description of variables on this file. Table 1 below
provides the crosswalk summarizing the scheme used for renaming variables
from the annual files.
Return To Table Of Contents
Table 1: Crosswalk of Variable Names between the Full-Year Consolidated Files and the Longitudinal File
| Type of Variable |
Full-Year Consolidated File Variable Name
Suffix |
Longitudinal File Variable Name
Suffix |
Specific Cases or Examples |
Constant (i.e., not round or year specific) |
No suffixes |
No suffixes |
All variables:
DOBMM=DOBMM
DOBYY=DOBYY
DUID=DUID
PID=PID
DUPERSID=DUPERSID
EDUCYR=EDUCYR
HIDEG=HIDEG HISPANX=HISPANX
HISPCAT=HISPCAT
INTVLANG=INTVLANG
RACEAX=RACEAX
RACEBX=RACEBX
RACEWX=RACEWX
RACEX=RACEX
RACETHNX=RACETHNX
SEX=SEX
VARPSU=VARPSU
VARSTR=VARSTR
|
Annual, family related variables |
YR |
Y1 or YR1
Y2 or YR2 |
All variables:
FAMIDYR=FAMIDYR1 (2006 file)
FAMRFPYR=FAMRFPY1 (2006 file)
FAMSZEYR=FAMSZEY1 (2006 file)
FAMIDYR=FAMIDYR2 (2007 file)
FAMRFPYR=FAMRFPY2 (2007 file)
FAMSZEYR=FAMSZEY2 (2007 file)
|
Annual, CPS family identifiers |
No suffix |
Y1
Y2 |
All variables:
CPSFAMID= CPSFAMY1 (2006)
CPSFAMID= CPSFAMY2 (2007)
|
Annual,
health insurance eligibility units |
No suffix |
Y1
Y2 |
All variables:
HIEUIDX=HIEUIDY1 (2006)
HIEUIDX=HIEUIDY2 (2007)
|
Annual, inscope variables |
No suffixes |
YR1
YR2 |
All variables:
INSCOPE=INSCPYR1 (2006 file)
INSCOPE=INSCPYR2 (2007 file)
|
12/31 status variables |
1231 in 2006 file
1231 in 2007 file |
Y1
Y2 |
All variables:
FAMS1231=FAMSY1 (2006 file)
FCRP1231=FCRPY1 (2006 file)
FCSZ1231= FCSZY1 (2006 file)
FMRS1231= FMRSY1 (2006 file)
INSC1231=INSCY1 (2006 file)
FAMS1231=FAMSY2 (2007 file)
FCRP1231=FCRPY2 (2007 file)
FCSZ1231= FCSZY2 (2007 file)
FMRS1231= FMRSY2 (2007 file)
INSC1231=INSCY2 (2007 file)
|
Annual |
06, 06X, 06F, or 06C
07, 07X, 07F, or 07C
|
Y1, Y1X, Y1F, or Y1C
Y2, Y2X, Y2F, or Y2C
|
Examples:
TOTEXP06=TOTEXPY1 (2006 file)
AGE06X=AGEY1X
TOTEXP07=TOTEXPY2 (2007 file)
AGE07X=AGEY2X
|
Variables for health insurance prior to January 1, 2006
(data collected in round 1 only) |
No suffixes |
No suffixes |
All variables:
PREVCOVR=PREVCOVR
COVRMM=COVRMM
COVRYY=COVRYY
WASESTB=WASESTB
WASMCARE=WASMCARE
WASMCAID=WASMCAID
WASCHAMP=WASCHAMP
WASVA=WASVA
WASPRIV=WASPRIV
WASOTGOV=WASOTGOV
WASAFDC=WASAFDC
WASSSI=WASSSI
WASSTAT1=WASSTAT1
WASSTAT2=WASSTAT2
WASSTAT3=WASSTAT3
WASSTAT4=WASSTAT4
WASOTHER=WASOTHER
NOINSBEF=NOINSBEF
NOINSTM=NOINSTM
NOINUNIT=NOINUNIT
MORECOVR=MORECOVR
INSENDMM=INSENDMM
INSENDYY=INSENDYY |
Annual |
No suffixes 3 |
Y1
Y2 |
All variables:
KEYNESS=KEYNESY1 (2006 file)
SAQELIG=SAQELIY1 (2006 file)
EVRWRK=EVRWRKY1 (2007 file)
EVRETIRE=EVRETIY1 (2006 file)
EVRUNAT=EVRUNAY1 (2006 file)
EVRUNINS=EVRUINY1 (2006 file)
KEYNESS=KEYNESY2 (2007 file)
SAQELIG=SAQELIY2 (2007 file)
EVRWRK=EVRWRKY2 (2007 file)
EVRETIRE=EVRETIY2 (2007 file)
EVRUNAT=EVRUNAY2 (2007 file)
EVRUNINS=EVRUINY2 (2007 file)
|
Monthly |
2-character month + 06
2-character month + 07 |
2-character month + Y1
2-character month + Y2 |
Example:
PRIJA06=PRIJAY1 (2006 file)
PRIJA07=PRIJAY2 (2007 file)
|
Round Specific |
31 or 31X in 2006 file
42 or 42X in 2006 file
53 or 53X in 2006 file
31 or 31X in 2007 file
42 or 42X in 2007 file
53 or 53X in 2007 file
|
1 or 1X for 2006
2 or 2X for 2006
3 or 3X for 2006
3 or 3X for 2007
4 or 4X for 2007
5 or 5X for 2007
|
Example:
RTHLTH31 = RTHLTH1 (2006 file)
RTHLTH42 =RTHLTH2 (2006 file)
RTHLTH53 =RTHLTH3 (2006 file if YRIND=2)
RTHLTH31 = RTHLTH3 (2007 file if YEARIND=1 or 3)
RTHLTH42 =RTHLTH4 (2007 file)
RTHLTH53 =RTHLTH5 (2007 file)
|
Diabetes care eye exams |
DSExyy53 |
Y0R for 2005 data
Y1R for 2006 data
Y2R for 2007 data
Y3R for 2008 data
|
All cases:
DSEB0553=DSEBY0R3 (2006 file)
DSEY0553=DSEY0R3 (2006 file)
DSEY0653=DSEY1R3 (2006 file)
DSEY0753=DSEY2R3 (2006 file)
DSEB0653=DSEBY1R5 (2007 file)
DSEY0653=DSEY1R5 (2007 file)
DSEY0753=DSEY2R5 (2007 file)
DSEY0853=DSEY3R5 (2007 file)
|
Job Change |
3142
4253
|
12 for 2006
23 for 2006
34 for 2007
45 for 2007
|
All cases:
CHJ3142=CHJ12(2006 file)
CHJ4253=CHGJ23(2006 file)
YCHJ3142=YCHJ12(2006 file)
YCHJ4253=YCHGJ23(2006 file)
CHJ3142=CHGJ34 (2007 file)
CHJ4253=CHGJ45 (2007 file)
YCHJ3142=YCHGJ34 (2007 file)
YCHJ4253=YCHGJ45 (2007 file)
|
1 A variable
named PANEL is also included to facilitate pooling across panels.
This variable is simply the panel number and is therefore constant
across all records within a longitudinal file.
2 While
round 3 values were obtained for most observations from the 2007
Full Year Consolidated File, they were obtained from the 2006 Full
Year Consolidated File for sample persons where YEARIND=2 (i.e.,
in 2006 only).
3 To
maintain the 8-character naming convention, some variable names had
the last character or two dropped in the renaming process.
Return To Table Of Contents
2.1.2. Constructed Variables for Selection of Analytic Group
The following eight variables were
constructed and included on the file to facilitate the selection of
appropriate cases for various analyses. Table 2 below contains descriptive
statistics for these variables.
| YEARIND |
1=both years, 2=in 2006 only, and 3=in
2007 only |
| ALL5RDS |
Inscope and data collected in all 5
rounds (0=no, 1=yes) |
| DIED |
Died during the two-year survey
period (0=no, 1=yes) |
| INST |
Institutionalized for some time during
the two-year survey period (0=no, 1=yes) |
| MILITARY |
Active duty military for some time
during the two-year survey period (0=no, 1=yes) |
| ENTRSRVY |
Entered survey after beginning of panel
(mainly births; also includes persons
who had no initial chance of selection
who
moved into a MEPS sample household) (0=no, 1=yes) |
| LEFTUS |
Moved out of the country after beginning
of panel (0=no, 1=yes) |
| OTHER |
Not identified in any of the above
analytic groups (0=no, 1=yes) |
Table 2: Frequencies and Percentage for Constructed Variables
| Variable |
Number of Records |
Percentage of Records (N=16,533) |
| YEARIND=1 (i.e., person in both
years) |
16,082 |
97.3 |
| ALL5RDS=1 (yes) |
15,052 |
91.0 |
| DIED=1 (yes) |
195 |
1.2 |
| INST=1 (yes) |
102 |
0.6 |
| MILITARY=1 (yes) |
30 |
0.2 |
| ENTRSRVY=1 (yes) |
1,040 |
6.3 |
| LEFTUS=1 (yes) |
68 |
0.4 |
| OTHER=1 (yes) |
79 |
0.5 |
Following are examples of situations where these variables would be
useful in selecting records for analysis:
- Analysts interested in working only with persons who were
in-scope and had data for all five rounds of the panel should subset
to cases where ALL5RDS=1.
- If a researcher wanted to include persons who were in-scope and had
data for all five rounds of the panel as well as those in the survey
at the beginning of the panel who subsequently died, then they
would include cases where ALL5RDS=1 or (ENTRSRVY=0 and DIED=1).
- If a researcher wanted to include persons who were in-scope and had
data for all five rounds of the panel as well as those who died
in the second year of the panel, then they would include cases where ALL5RDS=1
or (DIED=1 and YEARIND=1).
Return To Table Of Contents
2.1.3 Estimation Variables
Longitudinal Estimations for Panel 11 The
file contains a weight variable (LONGWT) and variance estimation variables
(VARSTR, VARPSU) that should be applied when producing national estimates
for longitudinal analyses. For example, LONGWT applied to the 15,052
cases where ALL5RDS=1 produces a weighted population estimate of 277.9
million. This represents an estimate of the number of persons in the civilian
noninstitutionalized
population for the entire two-year period from 2006-07. To obtain
estimates of variability (such as the standard error of sample estimates
or corresponding
confidence intervals) for estimates based on MEPS survey data, one
needs to take into account the complex sample design of MEPS by specifying
the
estimation variables including stratum of sample selection (VARSTR),
primary sampling unit (VARPSU) and longitudinal weight (LONGWT).
Pooled Estimations
When analyzing subpopulations and/or
low prevalence events, it may be desirable to pool together more than
one panel of MEPS-HC data to yield sample sizes large enough to generate
reliable estimates. If only data from Panels 7 and beyond are being
pooled, then simply use the strata and psu variables provided on the
longitudinal files for pooled estimation 4. However, because Panels
1-6 MEPS longitudinal weight files were released with panel-specific
variance structures, it is necessary to obtain the set of appropriate
variance estimation variables from the HC-036 Pooled Estimation File
when pooling involves these panels. This Panel 11 file also includes
the set of variance estimation variables (STRA9607, PSU9607) that should
be applied when producing estimates using any of the first six MEPS
panels. STRA9607 and PSU9607 reconcile the differences in the variance
units between the units on the released annual MEPS public use files
(see HC-036 file documentation for more information).
4 Note that variable names for
strata and psu are VARSTR and VARPSU respectively in longitudinal files
for
panel 9 and beyond. These variables were named differently in the longitudinal
files for panel 7 (varstrp7, varpsup7) and panel 8 (varstrp8, varpsup8)
and need to be standardized when pooling with subsequent panels.
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