Survey attrition considerations in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Abstract

In panel designs with multiple waves of data collection, the overall survey response rate is a multiplicative function of the wave specific response rates. The 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component follows this model to acquire data on health care use, expenditures, insurance coverage and sources of payment that cover two consecutive calendar years. An overlapping panel design was implemented, where data covering the second year of a panel are combined with data from the first year of a new panel. This study identifies the characteristics that distinguish survey participants across waves of the survey from those that only participate in initial rounds and then discontinue their survey participation. The results provide insights regarding the efficacy of the MEPS nonresponse adjustment strategies by comparing the survey estimates from the second year of the longitudinal panel with those from a new panel for the same time period.