Refining the Prediction Models of Low Income Status and Future Medical Expenditures in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). It is conducted to provide nationally representative estimates of health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, and insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. It comprises three component surveys: the Household Component (HC), the Medical Provider Component (MPC), and the Insurance Component (IC). The MEPS HC is the core survey, and it forms the basis for the MPC sample and part of the IC sample. The HC is a nationally representative survey of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population which collects information on both the person and household levels. The HC uses an overlapping panel design in which data are collected through a preliminary contact followed by a series of four rounds of interviews over a two and one-half year period. Using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) technology, data on medical expenditures and use for 2 calendar years are collected from each household. This series of data collection rounds is launched each subsequent year on a new sample of households to provide overlapping panels of survey data and, when combined with other ongoing panels, provides continuous and current estimates of health care expenditures. The sampling frame for the MEPS HC is drawn from respondents to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted by NCHS. NHIS provides a nationally representative sample of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population, with over-sampling of Hispanics and blacks. MEPS is the third in a series of national probability surveys conducted by AHRQ on the financing and use of medical care in the United States. The National Medical Care Expenditure Survey (NMCES) was conducted in 1977 and the National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) in 1987. Beginning in 1996, MEPS continued this series with design enhancements and efficiencies that provide a more current data resource to capture the changing dynamics of the health care delivery and insurance system. (Cohen J, 1997)