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If you have been contacted to participate in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and would like to verify your selection in this study, please visit our MCBS Respondent Page or contact NORC toll-free at 1(844)777-2151.
If a NORC interviewer has contacted you and you would like to verify their identification, please visit the NORC Respondent Care Center .
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) through a contract with NORC at the University of Chicago, is the most comprehensive and complete survey available on the Medicare population. Since 1991, the MCBS has collected data on Medicare beneficiaries’ social and medical risk factors and the relationship between these factors, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes – at a point in time and over time – directly from beneficiaries. These data, linked with Medicare enrollment data and claims, provide information not otherwise available through administrative data on the Medicare program and can be used to evaluate effectiveness of health care policy and policy interventions.
The MCBS releases two Limited Data Set (LDS) files annually. All research requests for limited access data require a Data Use Agreement (DUA) and can be requested through the process outlined here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files . The MCBS also releases two Public Use File (PUF) versions of the LDS files. These files, as well as accompanying documentation, are free to download and available on the MCBS PUF page . For additional information on the differences between these types of files, please visit Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) .
The MCBS Survey File – Early Release LDS provides select microdata from the MCBS Survey File LDS on an expedited schedule. The data on demographics, health and chronic conditions, preventive health behaviors and other questionnaire topics collected during the Fall Round are made available within 8 months from the end of data collection for beneficiaries living in the community only.
The MCBS Survey File contains over 6 thousand variables on a broad range of topics, including social determinants of health, economic outcomes, medication non-adherence, health insurance coverage and barriers to accessing care. The file is augmented with 5 years of enrollment data and, for beneficiaries enrolled in FFS Medicare, with 5 years of limited FFS claims. The MCBS Survey File (LDS) can be ordered here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files .
The MCBS Survey File PUF provides a publicly available file for researchers, while ensuring the highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. The MCBS Survey File PUF contains a subset of variables from the MCBS Survey File LDS for Medicare beneficiaries living in the community only and is available free for download, along with accompanying documentation, on the MCBS PUF page .
The Cost Supplement provides a comprehensive picture of beneficiaries’ health care use, expenditures, and sources of payment, including those not covered by Medicare. It contains both individual event and summary files and can be linked to the Survey File to conduct analyses on health care cost and utilization. The Cost Supplement File can support a broader range of research and policy analyses on the Medicare population than would be possible using either survey data or administrative claims data alone. The MCBS Cost Supplement File (LDS) can be ordered here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files .
The MCBS Cost Supplement PUF provides a publicly available version of the MCBS Cost Supplement LDS for researchers, while ensuring the highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. It includes data that links Medicare claims to survey-reported health care events and contains summarized expenditure and source of payment data on all health care services, including those not covered by Medicare. The MCBS Cost Supplement PUF, along with accompanying documentation, is available free for download on the MCBS PUF page .
The MCBS COVID-19 Supplement PUF provides a publicly available MCBS file for researchers interested in the experiences of Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The file provides information not available in the CMS administrative data, while providing the highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. The MCBS COVID-19 Supplement PUF, along with accompanying documentation, is available free for download on the MCBS PUF page .
MCBS New User Tutorial (PDF)
MCBS Advanced Tutorial on Using Community and Facility Data (PDF)
MCBS Advanced Tutorial on Weighting and Variance Estimation (PDF)
MCBS Advanced Tutorial on the COVID-19 Supplemental Data (PDF)
MCBS Advanced Tutorial on Longitudinal Analysis (PDF)
MCBS Advanced Tutorial on Pooled Cross-Sectional Analysis (PDF)
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey is authorized by section 1875 (42 USC 139511) of the Social Security Act and is conducted by NORC for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The OMB Number for this survey is 0938-0568 and expires 08/31/2025.
If you have questions or feedback regarding use of the MCBS data, please email us at MCBS@cms.hhs.gov .
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