DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06168.v1
title: National Medical Expenditure Survey, 1987: Health Insurance Plans Survey Data, Private Insurance Benefit Database and Linkages to Household Survey Policyholders [Public Use Tape 16]
title: Version 1

description: The National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) series 
 provides information on health expenditures by or on behalf of families 
 and individuals, the financing of these expenditures, and each person's 
 use of services. Public Use Tape 16 is the second public use data 
 release from the NMES Health Insurance Plans Survey (HIPS). The purpose 
 of the HIPS was to verify information reported by respondents to two 
 components of the NMES, the Household Survey and the Survey of American 
 Indians and Alaska Natives (SAIAN), about their health insurance 
 coverage. Additional details were also obtained from the employers, 
 unions, and insurance companies through which coverage was provided. 
 Parts 1 and 2 of Public Use Tape 16 are files that can be used to link 
 data to Household Survey policyholders in NATIONAL MEDICAL EXPENDITURE 
 SURVEY, 1987: POLICYHOLDERS OF PRIVATE INSURANCE: PREMIUMS, PAYMENT 
 SOURCES, AND TYPES AND SOURCE OF COVERAGE [PUBLIC USE TAPE 15] (ICPSR 
 9901). These link files permit identification of the records in the 
 Private Health Insurance Benefit Database (Parts 3-17 of this 
 collection) that describe the specific benefits held by the 
 policyholders. These files also permit linkage to the personal and 
 socioeconomic characteristics for these policyholders found in NATIONAL 
 MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY, 1987: HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, POPULATION 
 CHARACTERISTICS AND PERSON-LEVEL UTILIZATION, ROUNDS 1-4 [PUBLIC USE 
 TAPE 13] (ICPSR 9695). Future link files will permit linkage of the 
 Benefit Database to persons in the SAIAN and to dependents of 
 policyholders in the Household Survey. The section files of the Benefit 
 Database, Parts 4-13, contain information on Health Maintenance 
 Organizations (HMOs), copayments, basic coverage, hospital and medical 
 services, cost-containment provisions, major medical coverage, dental 
 care, prescription drugs, vision and hearing care, and Medicare 
 benefits. The schedule files, Parts 14-17, contain specific deductible 
 amounts, dollar benefits, coinsurance provisions, maximum benefits, and 
 benefit periods. Wherever possible, copies of policies or booklets 
 describing the coverage and benefits were obtained in order to abstract 
this information.
description: The HIPS sample consisted of a subset of the employers, 
 unions, and other sources of health insurance identified by respondents 
 to the 1987 NMES Household Survey and SAIAN and included (1) all 
 employers associated with jobs held by individuals at least 16 years 
 old in Round 4 of the Household Survey, (2) the most recent employer of 
 individuals not employed in Round 4 who were at least 21 years old, and 
 (3) all sources of health insurance that were identified by Household 
Survey respondents as in force at the end of 1987.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Link File to Public Use Tape 15 for Employment-Related Insurance
DS2: Link File to Public Use Tape 15 for Non-Employment-Related Insurance
DS3: Header File
DS4: Health Maintenance Organizations
DS5: Benefits Provided Under Basic Coverage
DS6: Cost-Containment Provisions Under Basic Coverage
DS7: Benefits Provided Under Major Medical Coverage
DS8: Cost-Containment Provisions Under Major Medical Coverage
DS9: Dental Care Benefits
DS10: Prescription Drug Benefits
DS11: Vision Care Benefits
DS12: Hearing Care Benefits
DS13: Medigap/Retiree Benefits
DS14: General Benefits Schedule
DS15: Deductible Schedule
DS16: Coinsurance Schedule
DS17: Maximum Schedule
DS18: Technical and Programming Information and Data Dictionary
DS19: SAS Control Cards for All Parts
description: The principal investigator notes that the data in 
 Public Use Tape 16 are released as coded. The benefit data are unedited 
and the database structure has not been simplified.