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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           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         Medicare HOS Data Files      

		 Several types of Medicare HOS data files are available for research purposes.  		 Medicare HOS data files are available as public use files (PUFs), limited data 		 sets (LDSs), and research identifiable files (RIFs). 	  

		 HOS PUFs contain the majority of the survey items collected on the HOS instrument 		 (excluding beneficiary identifying information) as well as selected additional 		 administrative variables. HOS PUFs are constructed to prevent the identification 		 of any single beneficiary or plan and only respondents to the survey are included 		 in the files.  HOS PUFs are available at no cost and can be downloaded directly from 		 this page (see below for additional information).	  

		HOS LDSs and RIFs are comprised of the entire national sample for a given 		cohort (including both respondents and non-respondents), and contain all of the 		HOS survey items. HOS LDSs and RIFs also contain protected beneficiary-level health 		information such as date of birth; however, specific direct person identifiers 		(i.e. name and health insurance claim number) are not included in LDSs. 		The HOS LDSs and RIFs include plan identifiers as well as several additional 		variables describing plan characteristics. A signed Data Use Agreement with CMS 		is required to obtain either LDS or RIF data files. The 		Research Data Assistance Center 		(ResDAC) at the University of Minnesota is a CMS contractor that provides 		assistance to academic, government and non-profit researchers interested in 		using Medicare and/or Medicaid data. ResDAC is available to assist in the completion and/or		review of data requisition forms for Medicare HOS research data files prior to their		submission to CMS.		For additional information and assistance with obtaining Medicare HOS LDS and RIF files, 		please visit the ResDac Medicare HOS Web page.		ResDAC may also be contacted by calling 1-888-9RESDAC 		(1-888-973-7322) or by e-mailing resdac@umn.edu.      
		Medicare HOS Public Use Data Files      
         In order to facilitate the dissemination of data collected by the         Medicare HOS project for additional research, PUFs have been         created for each cohort of data. The HOS PUFs contain         the majority of the survey items collected on the HOS instrument (excluding         beneficiary identifying information) as well as selected additional         administrative variables. The files have been constructed in         accordance with current CMS and Department of Health and Human         Services (HHS) policies and other applicable statutes and laws. All         identifying information has been excluded from the files, and         demographic categories have been aggregated such that identification         of any given individual is not possible.       

         Three distinct categories of PUFs have been generated:      
-  Baseline PUFs  contain the data collected during a            given baseline survey administration.         
-  Follow Up PUFs  contain the data collected during            the follow up survey administration which occurs two years after            the baseline survey administration.         
-  Analytic PUFs  contain the merged baseline and            follow up files as well as supplemental variables.         

         The PUFs are formatted as fixed-width ASCII (flat) files. The PUF         ASCII files are bundled together (as a ZIP file) with additional         documentation that details the construction and content of each PUF.         The detailed documentation is provided in the form of a Data         User's Guide. Additional information on HOS PUF Data User's         Guides is presented in the section entitled Data User's Guides.      
         Medicare HOS Downloadable PUFs      
*Once Medicare HOS PUFs are completed, they are available for download from          this page. If you have any questions regarding the PUFs, please feel free to          contact the Medicare HOS Information and         Technical Support Line.*
         COHORT I      -  Medicare HOS *Cohort I Baseline* PUF Data               (ZIP, 5.8 MB) - fielded Spring 1998         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort I Follow Up* PUF Data               (ZIP, 2.7 MB) - fielded Spring 2000         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort I Analytic* PUF Data               (ZIP, 6.8 MB) - 1998 - 2000         
         COHORT II      -  Medicare HOS *Cohort II Baseline* PUF Data               (ZIP, 6.8 MB) - fielded Spring 1999         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort II Follow Up* PUF Data               (ZIP, 2.6 MB) - fielded Spring 2001         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort II Analytic* PUF Data               (ZIP, 7.0 MB) - 1999 - 2001         
         COHORT III      -  Medicare HOS *Cohort III Baseline* PUF Data               (ZIP, 7.0 MB) - fielded Spring 2000         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort III Follow Up* PUF Data               (ZIP, 2.5 MB) - fielded Spring 2002         
-  Medicare HOS *Cohort III Analytic* PUF Data               (ZIP, 6.9 MB) - 2000 - 2002         
         COHORT IV      -  Medicare HOS *Cohort IV Baseline* PUF Data               (ZIP, 4.3 MB) - fielded Spring 2001         
         COHORT V      -  Medicare HOS *Cohort V Baseline* PUF Data               (ZIP, 3.9 MB) - fielded Spring 2002         
         Continue on to the Data User's Guides         section.      Note: This page includes links to specialized data and multimedia files. Viewing these files requires the use of a third-party plug-in or viewer. For more information or to test whether your computer can read these files, visit our File Formats and Plug-Ins page.www4Privacy & Security | Accessibility | FOIA | Help | Email Updates | CMS CareersHealth and Human Services | Medicare.gov | FirstGovEqual Employment Opportunity Data Posted Pursuant to the No Fear ActCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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