This repository contains instructions and example code for loading and analyzing data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Quick reference guides are also provided for convenience.
Survey Background
Accessing MEPS-HC data
Analyzing MEPS-HC data
Additional Survey Components
Contact MEPS
Example code for loading and analyzing MEPS data in R, SAS, and Stata is available in the following folders:
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which began in 1996, is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers (doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.), and employers across the United States. The MEPS Household Component (MEPS-HC) survey collects information from families and individuals pertaining to medical expenditures, conditions, and events; demographics (e.g., age, ethnicity, and income); health insurance coverage; access to care; health status; and jobs held. Each surveyed household is interviewed five times (rounds) over a two-year period:
The MEPS-HC is designed to produce national and regional estimates of the health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, and insurance coverage of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. The sample design of the survey includes weighting, stratification, clustering, multiple stages of selection, and disproportionate sampling.
Data from the Household Component of MEPS are available for download as public use files. Each dataset contains .zip and .exe files in ASCII and SAS transport format.
To download the data, unzip and save the ASCII (.dat) or SAS transport (.ssp) file to your local computer. For example the 2014 full-year-consolidated files h171.dat and h171.ssp can be stored in a local directory 'C:\MEPS\data':
The steps for loading the .dat or .ssp files depends on the programming language being used. Code for loading .ssp files in R, SAS, and Stata are available in the corresponding folders.
The complex survey design of MEPS requires special methods for analyzing MEPS data. These tools are available in many common programming languages including R, SAS, and Stata. Failure to account for the survey design can result in biased estimates. Details and examples of using the appropriate survey methods are provided for R, SAS, and Stata. Additional examples comparing these three languages can be found in the quick reference guide meps_programming_statements.md.
Note to User: All code provided in this repository is intended to be used as an example for loading and analyzing MEPS data. AHRQ cannot certify the quality of your analysis. It is the user's responsibility to verify the accuracy of the results.
MEPS is comprised of two additional components: The MEPS Medical Provider Component (MEPS-MPC) and the MEPS Insurance Component (MEPS-IC). The MEPS-MPC survey collects information from providers of medical care that supplements the information collected from persons in the MEPS-HC sample in order to provide the most accurate cost data possible. The MEPS-IC survey collects information from employers in the private sector and state and local governments on the health insurance coverage offered to their employees. It also includes information on the number and types of private health insurance plans offered, benefits associated with these plans, annual premiums and contributions to premiums by employers and employees, copayments and coinsurance, by various employer characteristics (for example, State, industry and firm size).
Datasets from the MPC and IC components are not available to the public. Access to the MEPS-MPC data can be requested from the AHRQ data center. For access to the MEPS-IC data, visit the Census Bureau's data center website.
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions on our website before contacting us to see if we already have an answer to your question. Also read our Privacy Policy for answers to any questions you may have about the use of your e-mail address.
You can contact us by e-mail, mail, or telephone:
MEPS Project Director
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
mepsprojectdirector@ahrq.hhs.gov
(301) 427-1406