An estimation strategy for the combined population represented by the NMES household and nursing home surveys ¹

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Cohen, Steven B.^a | Potter, D.E.B.^a

Affiliations: [a] Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 2101 E. Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852, USA

Note: [ 1 ] The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and no official endorsement by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research is intended or should be inferred.

Abstract: The National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) Household Survey was designed to produce national estimates of the health care utilization, expenditures, insurance coverage and source of payments for the civilian non-institutional population in 1987. The NMES Nursing Home Component of the Institutional Population Survey was designed to produce comparable estimates for the population resident in nursing and personal care homes in 1987. Individuals who were admitted to nursing and personal care homes from the community in 1987 were dually represented in the NMES Household and Nursing and Personal Care Home Surveys. This paper presents the estimation strategy adopted in NMES to allow for population estimates of the combined population represented by these component surveys. Particular attention will be given to the derivation of per capita and total health care expenditure estimates that characterize the union of the population in the community and in institutions over the course of 1987. Limitations with respect to the estimation strategy, as a consequence of the NMES survey design are also discussed.

Keywords: Institutional surveys, admissions, dual representation

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1996-22301

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 161-179, 1996