National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS)
available through the NCHS Research Data Center

The Division of Health Care Statistics is pleased to announce the release of National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS) files to researchers through the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC). Due to confidentiality constraints, NCHS is unable to release a public use version of the NEHIS files. The RDC, however, enables researchers to access these confidential files.

The National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS) was developed to produce estimates on employer-sponsored health insurance data in the United States. The NEHIS was the first Federal survey to represent all employers in the United States by State and obtain information on all plans offered to employees by their employers. The survey data provides an important benchmark for analyzing recent developments in the health insurance market in conjunction with more recent surveys.

The NEHIS was a national probability sample survey of business establishments (specific locations), governments, and self-employed individuals with no employees and no other locations. The survey also included a sample of health insurance plans offered by employers. Data were collected from approximately 39,000 employers in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Information on health insurance plans was collected from nearly 47,000 health plans. The overall response rate for the survey was 70 percent. The survey was designed to produce State and national estimates.

Data collected in the survey provide baseline data by State on various aspects of employer-sponsored health insurance, including employees eligible for coverage and their take-up rate, type and number of plans offered to employees, as well as detailed characteristics of plans offered (monthly premiums, employer and employee contributions to premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and covered services).

Prospective researchers must submit a research proposal that will be reviewed and approved by a committee whose judgment is based upon the availability of Research Data Center (RDC) resources, consistency with the mission of NCHS, and the feasibility of the project. Two access methods are available to researchers: onsite and remote. Regardless of the option chosen, each has an associated cost, which includes both capital and labor expenses involved in setting up and monitoring each project. In general, cost for on site researchers is $1,000 per week. Cost for remote access for any one data set is $500 per month. File construction and setup cost is $500 per day of effort. Further information may be found at the RDC website.

File documentation will be sent to prospective researchers upon request. All requests for file documentation should be addressed to:
Adonikka Deare
Development and Analysis Group
Division of Health Care Statistics
3311 Toledo Road, Rm. 3311
Hyattsville, MD 20782-2003
Email: AKD7@CDC.GOV

This page last reviewed January 11, 2007