DOI: 10.3886/icpsr09340.v1
title: National Medical Expenditure Survey, 1987: Household Survey, Prescribed Medicines for Medicare Beneficiaries
title: Version 1

description: This data collection contains two data files derived from 
 information gathered in the initial screening interview and Rounds 1-4 
 of the Household Survey component of the 1987 NATIONAL MEDICAL 
 EXPENDITURE SURVEY (NMES). The Person File supplies data on each 
 sampled person who reported coverage by Medicare at any time in 1987 
 and who responded to all rounds of the Household Survey for which he or 
 she was eligible to respond. Data in this file include age, sex, race, 
 marital status, education, employment status, personal and family 
 income, coverage under private health insurance and public programs 
 such as Medicaid and CAMPUS/CAMPVA, and the total number and cost of 
 all prescriptions purchased in 1987 while under Medicare coverage. In 
 addition, there are indicators of general health and specific medical 
 conditions: stroke, cancer, heart disease, gallbladder disease, high 
 blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, rheumatism, emphysema, 
 arthritis and diabetes. The Prescribed Medicines Event File presents 
 data pertaining to every instance a prescribed medicine was purchased 
 or otherwise obtained by these Medicare beneficiaries during 1987. For 
 respondents who were covered by Medicare for part of the year, only 
 prescribed medicines acquired during the Medicare coverage period are 
 included. This file gives the trade and generic name of each prescribed 
 medication and reports the cost of the prescription and the medical 
condition for which it was prescribed.
description: Stratified multistage area probability sample of dwelling 
 units. Dwelling units including blacks, Hispanics, the elderly, the 
functionally impaired, and the poor were oversampled.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Person File
DS2: Prescribed Medicines Event File
description: Civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United 
 States living in housing units, group quarters, and other 
noninstitutional (nongroup) quarters.
description: (1) The principal investigator was formerly known as 
 the National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care 
 Technology Assessment. (2) The age distribution for Part 1: 17 and 
 under (N=8), 18-63 (N=444), 64 (N=246), 65-74 (N=3,246), 75-84 
 (N=1,685), 85+ (N=409). (3) Parts 1 and 2 are linked by common 
 identification variables. (4) Hard copy supplementary materials to the 
 machine-readable documentation in Part 3 are supplied for this 
 collection. (5) Part 2 contains alphabetic variables. (6) NMES consists 
 of several surveys including two household panel surveys: the Household 
 Survey and the Survey of American Indians and Alaska Natives (SAIAN). 
 The Household Survey, from which this data collection is derived, 
 surveyed the United States noninstitutionalized population and was 
 fielded over four rounds of personal and telephone interviews at 
 four-month intervals, with a short telephone interview constituting the 
 fifth final round. SAIAN, which was conducted over three rounds of 
 personal interviews, surveyed all persons who were eligible for care 
 through the Indian Health Service and were living on or near 
 reservations. These household surveys were supplemented by additional 
 surveys, most important of which are the Health Insurance Plans Survey 
 of employers and insurers of consenting household survey respondents, 
 and the Medical Provider Survey of physicians, osteopaths, and 
 inpatient and outpatient facilities, including home health care 
 agencies reported as providing services to any member of the 
 noninstitutionalized population sample. NMES also surveyed persons 
 resident in or admitted to long-term care facilities (nursing homes and 
 facilities for the mentally retarded) at any time in 1987. Information 
 on these individuals was obtained from the Survey of Institutions, 
 which collected data from facility administrators and designated staff, 
 and the Survey of Next-of-Kin, which collected data from the 
 respondent's next-of-kin or other knowledgeable persons. Together, the 
 major components of NMES provide measures of health status and 
 estimates of insurance coverage and the use of services, expenditures, 
 and sources of payment for the period from January 1 to December 31, 
 1987 for the civilian population of the United States. NMES continues a 
 series of national health care expenditure surveys carried out in the 
 past, particularly the 1980 National Medical Care Utilization and 
 Expenditures Survey (ICPSR 8239) and the 1977 National Medical Care 
Expenditures Survey (ICPSR 8325, 8627, and 9076).