Description

For all persons, this variable indicates whether the person was covered by Medicaid or any other public assistance program in the previous month for 1993 to 1996. Because state names for Medicaid programs vary, respondents were also provided the state name of the program in the question: "(In (month), was anyone in the family covered by Medicaid or (local name)?" Medicaid was generally defined as a public assistance program that pays for medical care. Respondents were then asked about coverage by any other public assistance program.

Medicaid pays for medical assistance to low-income families with dependent children and to aged, blind, or permanently and totally disabled individuals with incomes insufficient to meet the costs of medical services.

Comparability

Apart from changes in the universe, there are no comparability issues. Changes in survey design (e.g., quarters in which the supplement was collected) may affect raw frequencies, but do not affect comparability of the variable. As always, data users should use the prescribed IPUMS NHIS weights.

This variable is not comparable with the recoded variable HIMCAIDE, which reflects responses edited for accuracy by the NCHS. During the course of data editing, the NCHS discovered many errors in the responses to questions about insurance coverage. This might be shown, for example, by a mismatch between the verbatim name of an insurance plan and the type of insurance coverage the person selected from the categories on the card. Users should not combine MCAOTH with HIMCAIDE.

Universe

Availability

• 1993-1996

Weights

• 1994-1996 : PERWEIGHT
• 1993 : SAMPWEIGHT