Text table 1

Comparison of aggregate expenditures for food: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Diary Survey and Personal
Consumption Expenditures (PCE), and trade association data, 1994-95

] ] ]

— | | Ratoof Ce
iary survey | Ratio of CE to to
Food category (In billions) Y | Ratio of CE to PCE |Supermarket Business) Progressive
Grocer

cos _| 1995 t994 | 1995 | 1994 1995 1994 | 1995

Total. sis0 a | wees 72 | 72 109 | 140 | tar | 1.19
Cereals and cereal products 6.0 | 17.0 73) 74 14 115) 1.19 1.24
Bakery products ... 22 | 2a 72 | 72 199 | 1.01 1141.16
Beet, pork, other meat, poultry. 625 | 642 7 | 77 wat) 114 1.14 1.14
Fish and seafood 121 | 127 1.16 1.24 137 | 149 | 322 3.52
Eggs 34 34 118 | 4.17 220 | 212 | 157 1.51
Fresh milk and cream 130 | 126 ‘97 88 1.68 | 1.66 1:40 1.38
Other dairy products 165 | 178 88 90 128 | 1.35 Mt 1.16
Fresh fruits and vegetables 273 | 289 92 94 74 | 74 | 90 92
Processed fruits and vegetables . 165 | 145 62 52 woo | 12 | 142 1.42
‘Sugar and other sweets .. 107 | 115 37 | 39 139 | 148 | 2.10 2.19
Fats and oils 84 85 79 81 423 | 124 | 1.54 1.60
Nonalcoholic beverage: 23.7 | 247 55 | 58 1.00 37 | 143 1.10
Miscellaneous prepared food 369 | 387 87 | 68 4.43 | 1.15 1.01 4.03

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey, annual. PCE estimates are shown in U.S, Depart-
ment of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “National Income and
Product Accounts” Survey of Current Business, August 1996. Supermarket

Comparisons show that Diary survey estimates of food-
at-home expenditures for 1994 and 1995 are usually lower
than PCE, which is based on administrative data and cov-
ers a larger population. In contrast, the Diary survey esti-
mates are generally higher than Supermarket Business es-
timates, which may reflect the difference in data collec-
tion methods. Consumer expenditure estimates are higher
than Progressive Grocer estimates. This difference is ex-
pected, since this trade source only covers supermarkets,
as noted above. Consumer Expenditure survey estimates
for fruits and vegetables, which are close to 10 percent
below Progressive Grocer estimates, may reflect
underreporting in the CE Diary survey.

National Health Expenditures. The Health Care Financ-
ing Administration (HCFA) of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services publishes annual data on total aggre-
gate health care expenditures of the United States, referred
to as National Health Expenditures (NHE). Total health
care expenditures include expenditures for health care by
all sources in the United States economy, including public
and private sources. The NHE data cover U.S. citizens
living abroad, military personnel, inhabitants of U.S. terri-
tories, and parts of the institutional population—a larger
population than covered by the Consumer Expenditure
Survey. In particular, the NHE is designed to cover nurs-
ing home residents, while the Consumer Expenditure Sur-
vey is not.

Estimates of out-of-pocket personal health care expen-
ditures from NHE are compared with the Consumer Ex-
penditure Survey. Out-of-pocke’ money spent for health

Business, Inc., “Consumer Expenditure Study,” Supermarket Business, FM
Business Publications, Inc., September issues, 1995, 1996. Progressive
Grocer Company, “The [year] Supermarket Sales Manual,” Progressive Gro-
cer, Maclean Hunter Media, Inc., July issues, 1995, 1996.

care include expenditures for medical care that are not
covered by insurance. Such expenses may include co-
payments and deductible amounts that are required by
health insurance plans. To derive its out-of-pocket esti-
mates, HCFA uses data from administrative and industry
sources, as well as some Consumer Expenditure Survey
data. The NHE estimates used for these comparisons re-
flect several updates in data sources since the last con-
sumer expenditure bulletin comparisons.

Text table 12 shows Consumer Expenditure Survey es-
timates of aggregate expenditures for health care (exclud-
ing health insurance and nursing home care) and ratios to
NHE estimates of out-of-pocket health care expenditures.
As reported in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, aggre-
gate medical care expenditures, excluding health insur-
ance, were $89 billion in 1995, or 58 percent of the NHE
estimate of $141 billion. Of the Consumer Expenditure
Survey total, $37 billion were spent on medical commodi-
ties and $53 billion on medical services. These amounts
were 65 percent and 54 percent of the NHE estimates, re-
spectively. Data show variations in the Consumer Expen-
diture Survey-to-NHE ratios over the 1992-95 period for
both medical commodities and medical services. Declines
in medical care commodities primarily reflect lower esti-
mates for hearing aids in the Consumer Expenditure Sur-
vey and fluctuations in medical services may reflect vola-
tility in spending on personal health care, due to changes
in health insurance plans. In addition, comparison of health
care expenditures may reflect underreporting in the Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey or undetectable administrative
error.

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1994-95 21


PEEP Comparison of aggregate expenditures for health care: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey and National

Health Expenditures, 1992-95

] Aggregate consumer expenditures Ratio of CE survey
| Consumer Expenditure Survey to
Expenditure categories | (in bitions) National Health Expenditures

1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 082 T4003 | 1894 1995
Health care, total’. sexe | sos2 | soa7 | se9.0 oss | o6s | 064 | 058
Medical commodities, total | sre | 402 | 377 | 372 72 7a | 68 65
Drugs and supplies . “| p02 | a26 | 309 | 304 ‘7 | 70 ‘65 60
Medical equipment 1) 74 | 76 64 64 102 | 1.02 | ‘ai | 78
Medical services, total s20 | 550 | 870 | 529 | 58 60 se
Professional services | aa1 | 466 | 448 | 436 36 58 ‘4 | ist
Hospital care... | 89 | 84 | 2 | 88 7) 71 | tos | 73

‘Excludes health insurance premiums, nursing home care, and medical
‘equipment repairs,

NOTE: Sums may not equal totals, due to rounding. CE categories have
been grouped as needed to match NHE.

Current Population Survey. The Bureau of the Census
collects income data in the March Supplement to the Cur-
rent Population Survey (CPS). Using data collected for
calendar years 1992 through 1995, comparisons were made
with Consumer Expenditure Interview survey estimates
of total consumer unit income before taxes and by source
of income. CPS estimates of aggregate income by source
of income were derived from Census estimates of mean
income of persons and the number of persons with the
specified income.

There are several differences between the Consumer Ex-
penditure Survey and the CPS. The CPS collects data in
March for the previous calendar year. By comparison, in
the Consumer Expenditure Interview survey, estimates of
income are obtained in the second and fifth interviews of
the consumer unit. These estimates refer to the prior 12
months; and, due to the rotating panel design of the Inter-
view survey, interviews may occur any time during the
year. Census imputes CPS income data that are missing
(due to nonresponse to income questions), based on de-
mographic characteristics. In contrast, income data that
are missing in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, due to
nonresponse, are not imputed as part of the Consumer Ex-
penditure Survey estimation procedure; instead, Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey income estimates are based on
complete income reporters only. Neither procedure ac-
counts for underreporting, which is especially prevalent
for property income.

In addition to the differences between the Consumer
Expenditure Survey and the CPS described above, the 1993

22 Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1994-95

SOURCE: The 1995 NHE data used to obtain the ratios are from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Health Care Financing Adminis-
tration, “Data View: National Health Expenditures, 1995" Health Care Fi-
nancing Review, Volume 18, Number 1, Fall 1996. Earlier NHE data used in
the comparisons are from previous issues of the Review.

and later ratios reflect the collection of CPS income data
by computer-assisted personal interview. By comparison,
Consumer Expenditure Survey data are collected by tradi-
tional paper and pencil interview. The 1993-95 ratios re-
flect further revisions to CPS data to include the 1990
Census-based sample design, reductions in sample size,
and selected editing procedures. Due to these changes in
CPS collection and estimation methods, one should use
caution when comparing 1993 and later ratios with those
for earlier years.

Text table 13 shows that the Consumer Expenditure
Survey estimates of total income before taxes are about 84
to 90 percent of the CPS. This reflects comparable levels
of estimates from the two surveys for the largest sources of
income, such as wages and salaries, self-employment in-
come, and Social Security income. Some differences in
estimates are expected, because of methodology differ-
ences between the two surveys described above and be-
cause the CPS is designed specifically to collect income
data, while the Consumer Expenditure Survey is designed
primarily to collect expenditure data. In addition, the CPS
population is about 3 percent larger than the Consumer
Expenditure Survey population. The low ratios for prop-
erty income reflect imputations for missing data in the
CPS and underreporting in the Consumer Expenditure Sur-
vey. Some variation in ratios reflects the general difficulty
of obtaining income information via household survey,
which is experienced by both the Consumer Expenditure
Survey and CPS.