Description

For all persons eligible for the Access to Care section (ACCESSELIG) who do not have a usual place for medical care (USUALPL), WHYNOUSLPL reports the main reason they do not have a usual source of care. Note that the meaning of "Other reasons" changes over time, depending on the availability of the other substantive categories. For example, the response "Job-related reasons" is available in 2002, but not in 2001. Therefore, in 2001, the category "Other reasons" may include people who do not have a usual source of care provider due to job-related reasons.

WHYNOUSLPL 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 USUALPL for all variables pertaining to why a person does not have a usual source of care and ACCESSELIG for more information about 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.

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 WHYNOUSLPL is only collected in Round 2 in 1997 instead of Rounds 2 and 4, WHYNOSUL cannot be used to make a full-year estimate in 1997. Other than that and changes to the meaning of the category "Other reasons," this variable is comparable over time.

Universe

Availability

• 1996-2021

Weights

• 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT

Flags