VSEXPTOT
Sum of direct payments made during the year for glasses and contact lenses
Description
For all persons, VSEXPTOT captures the sum of direct payments made during the year for the purchase of glasses and/or contact lenses. For more information on how MEPS collects expenditure data, please refer to our user note on medical expenditures.
Due to the data collection methodology, it was not possible to determine whether vision items that were reported in Round 3 had been purchased in the first or second year of the longitudinal panel. Therefore, expenses reported in Round 3 were only included in the annual file for a given year if more than half of the person's reference period for the round took place in that year.
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.
Codes
VSEXPTOT is a 6-digit numeric variable.
Universe
- 1996-2021: All persons.
Availability
- 1996-2021
Weights
- 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT
