Frequently Asked Questions

The MEPS data release schedule is available on the MEPS website. While data release dates occasionally change from year to year, many of the data files and tables are released in the same month each year.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) is committed to improving the Nation's health care system. In recent years, many important changes have taken place in:

• The ways people choose their providers of medical care.
• The ways in which health care is paid for.
• The Affordable Care Act (ACA).
• The kinds of health insurance plans available and the services covered by those plans.

These and other changes have created a critical need for continuous up-to-date information on the types of health care people obtain and how this care is paid for. MEPS is designed to provide this information to the public, the health care community, and leaders in government and the private sector.

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data are used by a wide variety of researchers and policy analysts in both the private and public sectors. After individually identifying information has been removed, MEPS data are made available to researchers through an annual series of Public Use Files. The series includes files with data on health insurance coverage at a point-in-time, the use of health care services during the calendar year, and expenditures for health care during the calendar year. Additional files provide information on health care events, health conditions, employment characteristics, and other aspects of the MEPS household samples.

Staff at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the agency with primary responsibility for the project, provides a wide range of services to support users of MEPS data.

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Both organizations are part of the U.S. Public Health Service.

The MEPS Survey Background provides basic information on the surveys that preceded MEPS as well as information on when MEPS began, how data are collected, the different components of MEPS, the design of the survey, and availability of the survey data.

Data users who are new to MEPS should read the Data Overview to learn about what MEPS collects, and what is available online and in the AHRQ Data Center.

The HCUP databases are built from hospital administrative data (i.e., hospital billing records). The databases cover hospital inpatient care, outpatient emergency department care, and ambulatory surgery from hospital-owned facilities. Some State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) include ambulatory surgery data from facilities not owned by a hospital. HCUP does not include services provided in physician offices, and does not contain complete or reliable pharmacy, laboratory, pathology, or radiology information.

Sign up for the HCUP Mailing List to receive emailed information about database releases, tools, and other HCUP product news.

You also can check the HCUP News and Events page for updates.

The National Inpatient Sample replaces the Nationwide Inpatient Sample for database year 2012 onward. The National Inpatient Sample implements an improved sample design for more accurate representation of national discharge data. The previous NIS contained all discharge records from a sample of hospitals participating in HCUP. The revised database contains a sample of discharge records from all hospitals participating in HCUP. The database was redesigned in 2012 to improve national estimates.