Rehabilitation Dataset Directory: Dataset Profile

The MCBS is a longitudinal survey that selects a nationally-representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries and longitudinally tracks their health status, health expenditures, and utilization of services. It uses a rotating panel design with each survey participant interviewed three times a year over four years, regardless of their residential settings (community or institutions). There are two types of data files in the MCBS: from 1991-2013, these were the Access to Care file and Cost and Use file; from 2015 and beyond, these are the Survey file and the Cost Supplement file.

1991-2013: The Access to Care file contains information on beneficiaries' access to health care (including rehabilitation services), satisfaction with care, and usual source of care. The MCBS Cost and Use file links Medicare financial claims to survey-reported events.

2015-present: The Survey file contains information about demographics (household characteristics, information on income and assets), health care (access, satisfaction, usual source of care, preventative service), health status (medical conditions and health behaviors), timeline data (health insurance and residence), and facility characteristics (if applicable). The Cost Supplement file contains details about health care cost (expenditure and payment, source of payment, supplementary insurance costs), health care utilization (services received), and fee-for-service claims data. The Cost Supplement file must be merged with the Survey file to perform analyses; the MCBS file containing cost information is no longer an independent module.

Public Use Files (PUF) are available based on the 2013 and 2015 data (includes  community sample only and more limited variables - see limitations section)

Note that the data for 2014 were not released due to the 2015 redesign of the MCBS.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - Office of Strategic Planning

Allergies, Alzheimer's/dementia, Anxiety disorders, Arthritis, Bipolar disorder, Blood disorder, Body mass index (BMI)/obesity, Cancer, Cardiovascular conditions, Cerebral palsy, Depression, Diabetes, Down syndrome, Epilepsy or seizure disorder, Eye diseases, Heart attack, Infectious diseases, Kidney/renal condition, Missing limbs/hand/finger/feet, Multiple sclerosis, Orthopedic conditions, Osteoporosis, Parkinson's disease, Partial or total paralysis, Pulmonary disorders, Schizophrenia, Stroke, Thyroid disease, Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

United States

Medicare beneficiaries

Three times a year:

Respondents (or appropriate proxy respondent) are interviewed every four months until they have completed four years of participation (total of 12 interviews over a 4 year period)

Longitudinal design allows researchers to determine trajectories of health status and associated health/rehabilitation services utilization. It uses a combination of data collection strategies (administrative and survey). Can determine health expenditures for Medicare and other types of insurance coverage.

As of 6/2018 Public Use Files (PUF) are available for 2013 and 2015.A text file with SAS programming code to create formats and to apply SAS labels is available for PUF users. 

A redesign in 2015; 2014 data not released. 

The 2013 & 2015 Public Use Files (PUF) were evaluated for disclosure risk and additional steps were taken to protect respondent confidentiality. For this  reason they contain less detail than the Limited Data Set (LDS) files. The 2015 PUF contains fewer variables than the LDS:  413 variables compared to the 4,041 variables in the LDS.  The PUF only includes beneficiaries interviewed in the community (n=12,311 in 2015), excluding all beneficiaries who were in a health care facility part or all of the year (n=1,288). The PUF also does not contain Medicare claims data in individual form (available in the LDS data).

Public Use File (PUF) 2013 & 2015:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Downloadable-Public-Use-Files/MCBS-Public-Use-File/index.html

Limited Data Set (LDS):

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Files-for-Order/LimitedDataSets/index.html

• Public Use Dataset (PUF)
• Data Use agreement, $ Cost (LDS)

Data Tables:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Data-Tables.html

Data Briefs:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Data-Briefs.html

• 1991-2013: Access to Care file, and Cost and Use file
• 2015 - Current: Survey file, and Cost Supplement file

Bibliography:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Bibliography.html

Data Documentation and Codebooks:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Codebooks.html

PUF Documentation:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Downloadable-Public-Use-Files/MCBS-Public-Use-File/index.html

Questionnaires:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Questionnaires.html

Data Briefs and Tutorials:

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS/Data-Briefs.html

• AphasiaBank