Description
For all events, EVCHGTOT captures the sum of fully established charges for care provided during the event. This variable does not usually reflect actual payments made for services, which can be substantially lower due to factors such as negotiated discounts, bad debt, and free care. For more information on how MEPS collects expenditure data, please refer to our user note on medical expenditures. The universe for this variable changes over time; please see the comparability tab for more details.
IPUMS MEPS reports the universe for each variable based on a thorough review of the original MEPS documentation. Investigating the data may reveal cases that do not meet the stated universe. Users are encouraged to validate universes for their analyses.
EVCHGTOT is on the event record (see RECTYPE for more details on the different record types in IPUMS MEPS). Variables offered on the event record through IPUMS MEPS are derived from the dental visits, other medical expenses, hospital inpatient stays, emergency room visits, outpatient visits, office-based medical provider visits, and home health event files provided by AHRQ. Please see our overview of the event, medical conditions, and prescribed medicines variables, including how those variables are offered through IPUMS MEPS, and general considerations to keep in mind when conducting analyses using these variables.
EVCHGTOT is a 10-digit numeric variable with 2 implied decimal places. That is, values of 1234567890 should be interpreted as 12,345,678.90. The command files delivered with IPUMS extracts automatically divide by 100, so no further adjustment is needed.
99999999.99: Not in Universe
Universe
- 1996: All events.
- 1997-1999: Office-based medical provider visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, and dental visits (EVENTYPE), other medical expenses where the other medical expense type is not insulin or diabetic equipment/supplies (OMTYPEX), or home health visits where the MPC eligibility flag is not informal care (MPCELIG).
- 2000-2004: Emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, and dental visits (EVENTYPE), office-based medical provider visits and outpatient visits where the visit was not a telephone call (SEETLKPV), other medical expenses where the other medical expense type is not insulin or diabetic equipment/supplies (OMTYPEX), or home health visits where the MPC eligibility flag is not informal care (MPCELIG).
- 2005-2017: Emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, dental visits, and other medical expenses (EVENTYPE), office-based medical provider visits and outpatient visits where the visit was not a telephone call (SEETLKPV), or home health visits where the MPC eligibility flag is not informal care (MPCELIG).
- 2018-2021: Office-based medical provider visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, dental visits, and other medical expenses (EVENTYPE) or home health visits where the MPC eligibility flag is not informal care (MPCELIG).
Availability
- 1996-2021
Weights
- 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT
