Description: MEPS collects information about a select group of medical conditions that have been specified by the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality as "priority conditions." These conditions, selected for their prevalence, expense, or relevance to policy, are: hypertension, heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD), and emphysema.
Emphysema information is collected by asking respondents whether they have ever been diagnosed with emphysema. Emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or bronchitis can also be identified by the condition code associated with medical events reported during the reference period. In addition to the tables and publications below, person-level data files with emphysema variables can be downloaded for analysis.

Data tables: The Expenditures by Medical Condition tables of the MEPS-HC Summary Data Tables contain information on expenditures, number of persons, and number of events related to emphysema and bronchitis.

Analytic tools: No priority conditions-related variables are available in the MEPSnet query tools at this time.