The Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC) is a nationally representative survey of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. The sampling frame is drawn from respondents to the National Health Interview Survey, which is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The MEPS-HC collects data from a nationally representative sample of households through an overlapping panel design. A new panel of sample households is selected each year, and data for each panel are collected for two calendar years. The two years of data for each panel are collected in five rounds of interviews that take place over a two and a half year period. This provides continuous and current estimates of health care expenditures at both the person and household level for two panels for each calendar year.

The chart below illustrates the timing and relationship between panels, rounds, and calendar years. For example, looking at the data collection by panel, Panel 9 consists of five rounds of interviews; with Rounds 1–3 providing data for 2004 and Rounds 3–5 providing data for 2005. Looking at the data collection by year, data for the year 2005 consists of data collected from Rounds 3–5 of Panel 9 and Rounds 1–3 of Panel 10.

MEPS-HC Panel Design: Data Reference Periods

Note: N is equal to the number of people with a positive person weight on the file.

Each round of MEPS-HC interviews collects information pertaining to a specific time period called a reference period. Using Panel 9 again as an example, the reference period for the first interview of Panel 9 began on January 1, 2004 and ended on the date of each reporting unit's Round 1 interview, conducted from March through June 2004. The reference periods for Rounds 2, 3, and 4 varied from household to household and covered the time between interview dates of the previous round and the current round. The last reference period of Panel 9 (Round 5) ended on December 31, 2005. (December 31st of the second calendar year is always the end of the last reference period.)

MEPS is a large-scale and comprehensive data collection effort that includes many types of survey questions, some of which only pertain to subsets of the diverse respondents participating in the survey. To accommodate the extensive array of questions covered, yet minimize the number of questions asked of each respondent, data are collected using an intricate system of skip patterns and questionnaire modules grouped into sections. Computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) using a laptop computer makes it possible to field such a complex data collection instrument.

Since data are collected using CAPI, rather than a hard copy questionnaire, the data collection instrument actually consists of sections that are composed of a series of computer screens containing questions, interviewing instructions, and skip pattern directions, as well as computer programming notes embedded along with each data item. The MEPS data collection in a given round consists of different sections. Some sections are included in every round of data collection. Other sections are only included in one or two rounds—this type of section is also referred to as a supplement.

Any single question must be considered within the context of the skip patterns incorporated into the questionnaire. Some questions appear in several CAPI screens because of the variety of skip patterns that lead to the question. The question is only asked when the skip pattern determines that it should be asked of that respondent. Items asking the same question of various respondents typically map back to a single variable in the database.

Click here to go to the MEPS-HC survey questionnaires.