Description

For persons who have had Medicaid card at the time of the survey , this variable indicates whether the card was seen, and if it was seen, if it was current or expired.

Medicaid was generally defined to respondents as a program which provides health or medical care for low-income or disabled persons in need.

This variable is not comparable with the recoded variable HIMCAIDE, which reflects responses edited for accuracy by the NCHS.

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 MCAIDCRDSTAT with HIMCAIDE.

Universe

Availability

• 1978-1984, 1986, 1989

Weights

• 1978-1982, 1984, 1986, 1989 : PERWEIGHT
• 1983 : SAMPWEIGHT