Description
For all events, FLATFEEID uniquely identifies a flat fee group. All events that were part of a flat fee payment will have the same FLATFEEID. A flat fee group is a set of medical services that are covered under a fixed dollar amount payment for a package of health care services during a defined period of time. Flat fee groups can span multiple years. Examples of services that might be part of a flat fee group are a surgeon's fee for a procedure and post-surgical care or an obstetrician's fee for a normal delivery and pre-natal and post-natal care. Home health events only have flat fees from 1996-1997 and other medical expenses only have flat fees from 1996-2017. See the universe 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.
FLATFEEID 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.
FLATFEEID is a 14-character string variable.
00000000000000: NIU
Universe
- 1996-1997: All events.
- 1998-2017: Office-based medical provider visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, dental visits, and other medical expenses (EVENTYPE).
- 2018-2021: Office-based medical provider visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, hospital inpatient stays, and dental visits (EVENTYPE).
Availability
- 1996-2021
Weights
- No weights are available for this variable. Please refer to FLATFEEID for more information.
