Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey

General: The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is a continuing multi-purpose survey of a representative sample of the Medicare population. It is sponsored by HCFA and directed by the Office of the Actuary. The survey is focused on the financing of heath care. This Tape: The Round 1 MCBS interviews were conducted in the last four months of calendar year 1991, with 12,677 individuals (11,735 in households and 942 in institutions). This survey collected a variety of baseline information about the Medicare population, including demographic characteristics and family support. The data were linked to 1991 Medicare claims and other administrative data to enhance their analytic power.

 

Source: HCFA

Size: 1 reel (15 data files, plus 10 files with SAS code)

Years: 1991-1993, various sections

Media: 9-track tape

Format: EBCDIC: survey and administrative files are fixed length; bill files are variable length

RecordLength: See Section 1 of original documentation

Structure: 9 survey and administrative files with one record per respondent; six Medicare bill files with one, several, or no record(s) per respondent

Complexity: Survey and administrative files: Moderate; an operating system utility is available for converting EBCDIC records of fixed length to ASCII. Bill files: Complex; requires custom coding