Description

For all persons, OPFEXMC captures the sum of direct payments made by Medicare for hospital facility expenses associated with care provided during the year by outpatient medical providers during the year. Hospital facility expenses include direct hospital care, including room and board, diagnostic and laboratory work, x-rays, and similar expenses, as well as any physician services included in the hospital expense. Payments for over-the-counter drugs and indirect payments not related to specific medical events, such as Medicaid Disproportionate Share and Medicare Direct Medical Education subsidies, are not included in this amount. For more information on how MEPS collects expenditure data, please refer to our user note on medical expenditures.

Related variables
Variables related to total annual health care expenditures by source of payment, total annual health care expenditures by type of medical service, and total annual health care charges are also available. Please refer to our user note on expenditures for a list of these variables.

OPFEXMC is a 6-digit numeric variable.

Comparability

This variable is completely comparable over time.

Universe

Availability

• 1996-2022

Weights

• 1996-2022 : PERWEIGHT

Flags