Description
For all persons eligible for the Access to Care section (ACCESSELIG), DIFCARFM indicates whether, in the past 12 months, anyone in the family experienced difficulty in obtaining any type of health care, delayed obtaining care, or did not receive health care they thought they needed.
DIFCARM is collected as part of the Access to Care section, which gathers information on usual source of care for all family members, characteristics of usual source of care health providers, and barriers family members have faced in obtaining needed health care. Please see ACCESSELIG for more information on the Access to Care section.
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.
Related Variables
The Access to Care section collects information about reasons the family member had difficulty obtaining medical care. In addition to DIFCARFM, the following information is collected:
- DIFCARFMY: Main reason family member had difficulty obtaining needed medical care
- DIFCARFMYNO: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: No other reason
- DIFCARFMYCST: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Couldn't afford care
- DIFCARFMYINS: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Insurance company won't pay
- DIFCARFMYPRE: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Pre-existing condition
- DIFCARFMYRFL: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Insurance required referral
- DIFCARFMYDRR: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Dr refused insurance
- DIFCARFMYDIS: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Distance
- DIFCARFMYTRA: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: No transportation
- DIFCARFMYTCT: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Transportation cost
- DIFCARFMYHR: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Hearing impairment
- DIFCARFMYLAN: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Language barrier
- DIFCARFMYINT: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Hard to get into building
- DIFCARFMYIND: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Hard to get around inside building
- DIFCARFMYEQP: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: No appropriate equipment in office
- DIFCARFMYWRK: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Couldn't get time off work
- DIFCARFMYWHR: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Didn't know where to get care
- DIFCARFMYREF: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Was refused services
- DIFCARFMYCLD: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Couldn't get child care
- DIFCARFMYTIM: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Didn't have time or took too long
- DIFCARFMYOTH: Other reason family member had difficulty obtaining medical care: Other reason
- FAMYBARCAR: Any family member need and not get medical care (due to cost), past 12 months
- MCSATFM: Overall satisfaction that family members can get needed medical care
Codes and Frequencies
Comparability
Users should note that the Access to Care variables are not designed to yield full-year estimates in 1997, as the section is only administered in Round 2 instead of Rounds 2 and 4. The 1997 AHRQ documentation advises that "The 1997 Access to Care variables cannot be used to make full-year estimates, but can be useful in such analyses as trend analyses, or for enhancing subgroup analyses. These variables may be of particular interest because of the 1997 oversample of populations (such as poverty, children with activity limitations, adults with functional limitations, high medical expenditure cases, and the elderly) where access issues are particularly relevant" (C-16). Because DIFCARFM is only collected in Round 2 in 1997 instead of Rounds 2 and 4, DIFCARFM cannot be used to make a full-year estimate in 1997. Otherwise, this variable is comparable over time.
Universe
- 1996-2001: All persons eligible for the Access to Care section (ACCESSELIG).
Availability
- 1996-2001
Weights
- 1996-2001 : PERWEIGHT
