File 2 Contents. Pre-imputed Expenditure Variables Pre-imputed expenditure data are provided on File 2. Pre-imputed means that only a series of logical edits were applied to both the HC and MPC data to correct for several problems including outliers, co-payments or charges reported as total payments, and reimbursed amounts counted as out-of-pocket payments. Edits were also implemented to correct for misclassifications between Medicare and Medicaid and between Medicare HMO’s and private HMO’s as payment sources, as well as number of other data inconsistencies that could be resolved through logical edits. Missing data were not imputed. The user should note that there exist only 10 sources of payment variables in the pre-imputed expenditure data, while the imputed expenditure data on File 1 contains 12 sources of payment variables. The additional two sources of payments (which are not reported as separate sources of payment through the data collection) are Other Private and Other Public. These sources of payment categories were constructed to resolve apparent inconsistencies between individuals’ reported insurance coverage and their sources of payment for specific events. The user should also note that the variable HHSFFIDX, which is the original flat fee identifier that was derived during the household interview, should be used only if user is interested in performing their own expenditure imputation.
File 2 Contents. Outpatient Department Visit Variable This file contains a variable describing an outpatient event reported by respondents in the Outpatient Department section of the MEPS Household questionnaire. The following variable, which was inadvertently omitted from the original 1997 Outpatient Department Visit file, is provided as unedited: see (HC-016F) for complete documentation.
