Jul 16 -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health and Human Services (HHS), invites comments to OMB by August 26, 2024 regarding the planned renewal of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). [Comments due 30 days after submission to OMB on July 24.]
CMS is the largest single payer of health care in the United States. The agency plays a direct or indirect role in administering health insurance coverage for more than 120 million people across the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Exchange populations. A critical aim for CMS is to be an effective steward, major force, and trustworthy partner in supporting innovative approaches to improving quality, accessibility, and affordability in healthcare. CMS also aims to put patients first in the delivery of their health care needs.
The MCBS is the most comprehensive and complete survey available on the Medicare population and is essential in capturing information not otherwise collected through operational or administrative data on the Medicare program. The MCBS is a nationally-representative, longitudinal survey of Medicare beneficiaries that is sponsored by CMS and is directed by the Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA). MCBS data collection includes both in-person and phone interviewing. The survey captures beneficiary information whether aged or disabled, living in the community or facility, or serviced by managed care or fee-for-service. Data produced as part of the MCBS are enhanced with administrative data (e.g., fee-for-service claims, prescription drug event data, enrollment, etc.) to provide users with more accurate and complete estimates of total health care costs and utilization. The MCBS has been continuously fielded for more than 30 years, encompassing over 1.2 million interviews and more than 140,000 survey participants. Respondents participate in up to 11 interviews over a four-year period. The MCBS provides a holistic view of Medicare beneficiaries' social and medical risk factors and rich information on the relationship between these risk factors, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes—at a point in time and over time.
The MCBS continues to provide unique insight into the Medicare program and helps CMS and its external stakeholders better understand and evaluate the impact of existing programs and significant new policy initiatives. In the past, MCBS data have been used to assess potential changes to the Medicare program. For example, the MCBS was instrumental in supporting the development and implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit by providing a means to evaluate prescription drug costs and out-of-pocket burden for these drugs to Medicare beneficiaries. Beginning in 2025, this proposed revision would add new measures to the questionnaire and remove a few items that are no longer relevant for administration.
MCBS:
https://data.cms.gov/medicare-current-beneficiary-survey-mcbs
CMS submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202407-0938-007 Click on IC List for questionnaire, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this site.
FR notice inviting public comment:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-15581
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806