The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 2157-2166
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Zuvekas ◽  
David Kashihara
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Statistical Precision ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial disruptions in the field operations of all 3 major components of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The MEPS is widely used to study how policy changes and major shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, affect insurance coverage, access, and preventive and other health care utilization and how these relate to population health. We describe how the MEPS program successfully responded to these challenges by reengineering field operations, including survey modes, to complete data collection and maintain data release schedules. The impact of the pandemic on response rates varied considerably across the MEPS. Investigations to date show little effect on the quality of data collected. However, lower response rates may reduce the statistical precision of some estimates. We also describe several enhancements made to the MEPS that will allow researchers to better understand the impact of the pandemic on US residents, employers, and the US health care system. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(12):2157–2166. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306534 )

The Effect of Switching Private Insurance Plans on Health Care Utilization

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Liu ◽  
David M. Zimmer
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Utilization ◽  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Unobserved Heterogeneity ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Period Model

AbstractThe switching of health insurance plans and health care utilization are potentially correlated with both observable and unobservable information. This paper presents a two-period model of health care utilization, and attempts to account for unobserved heterogeneity that simultaneously affects utilization and the decision to switch plans. Data used in this paper are drawn from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Results indicate that non-HMO enrollees increase their utilization of non-emergency related care prior to switching to HMOs, and they decrease utilization after switching. Conversely, individuals enrolled in HMOs report lower levels of utilization before and higher utilization after they switch to non-HMOs.

The Effect of the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 on Health Care Utilization of Employment Separators

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Zimmer
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Utilization ◽  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Simultaneous Equations ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Maximum Simulated Likelihood ◽  
Simulated Likelihood ◽  
Insurance Choice

Abstract This paper uses data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate the effect of COBRA on health care utilization among a sample of individuals who experience employment separation. The empirical specification employs a structural simultaneous equations model of insurance choice and utilization that is estimated by Maximum Simulated Likelihood. Results indicate that employment separators who elect COBRA appear to consume more health care compared to individuals who become temporarily uninsured. In addition, results do not indicate adverse selection into COBRA. Although COBRA enrollees consume more health care than temporary insurance losers, election appears to exhibit favorable selection with respect to physician utilization.

scholarly journals Estimated Health Care Utilization and Expenditures in Individuals With Heart Failure From the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Klein ◽  
Shangqing Jiang ◽  
Jacob R. Morey ◽  
Akila Pai ◽  
Donna M. Mancini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Utilization ◽  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Health Care Expenditures ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Hospital Inpatient ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Medical Provider

Background: Heart failure (HF) constitutes a growing burden for public health and the US health care system. While the prevalence of HF is increasing, differences in health care utilization and expenditures within various sociodemographic groups remain poorly defined. Methods: We used the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to assess annual health care utilization and expenditures from 2012 to 2017. Health care utilization was based on the annual frequency of various health care encounters. Annual total and out-of-pocket expenditures were evaluated for hospital inpatient stays, emergency room visits, outpatient visits, office-based medical provider visits, prescribed medicines, dental visits, home health aid visits, and other medical expenses. We performed univariable and multivariable regression analysis based on patient characteristics including sociodemographic and comorbidity variables. Results: Our results showed that total health care expenditures among patients with HF were $21 177 (95% CI, $18 819–$24 736) per year as compared with $5652 (95% CI, $5469–$5837) in those without HF ( P <0.001). Total expenditures within the population with HF were primarily being driven by expenditures associated with inpatient hospitalizations. Increasing number of comorbid conditions was associated with significant increases in total health care expenditures. Older age, female sex, earlier study years, number of comorbidities, higher level of education, and increasing family income brackets independently raised out-of-pocket expenditures. Conclusions: Our findings of increased health care utilization and expenditures based on sex, age, increasing number of comorbidities, wealthier income status, and increased education attainment level may be used for efforts aimed at better distributing health care resources to improve health outcomes in HF.

scholarly journals The Impact of SCHIP on Insurance Coverage of Children

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie L. Hudson ◽  
Thomas M. Selden ◽  
Jessica S. Banthin
Keyword(s):  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
Estimation Strategy ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Health Insurance Program ◽  
The Impact

In this paper we use the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey between 1996 and 2002 to investigate the impact of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on insurance coverage for children. We explore a range of alternative estimation strategies, including instrumental variables and difference-in-trends models. We find that SCHIP had a significant impact in decreasing uninsurance and increasing public insurance for both children targeted by SCHIP and those eligible for Medicaid. With respect to changes in private coverage our results are less conclusive: some specifications resulted in no significant effect of SCHIP on private insurance coverage, while others showed significant decreases in private insurance. Associated estimates of SCHIP crowd-out had wide confidence intervals and were sensitive to estimation strategy.

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