Using and Comparing Data on Health Insurance from Multiple
Sources Why does the Government collect health insurance data in
multiple surveys? Multiple surveys are needed to address the
full range of data needs, and each of these surveys addresses
multiple topics and have different strengths. The Census
Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), primarily a survey
related to employment, is large enough to yield State data and
relates health insurance coverage to employment and other
benefits. The HHS National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the
broadest survey of health, is useful in analysis of
relationships between coverage and access to care and to health
status and is large enough to examine these factors in small
population subgroups and selected States. The HHS Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) provides the depth we need to
look at expenditures and utilization. Because health insurance
is so important, it is collected on each of these and other
surveys so that it can be related to other content or d