Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)

Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)

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If you have been contacted to participate in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and would like to verify your selection in this study, please visit our MCBS Respondent Page or contact NORC toll-tree at 1(844)777-2151.  

If a NORC interviewer has contacted you and you would like to verify their identification, please visit the NORC Respondent Care Center.

MCBS Overview

The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) through a contract with NORC at the University of Chicago is a continuous, in-person, longitudinal survey of a representative national sample of the Medicare population. The central goals of the MCBS are to determine expenditures and sources of payment for all services used by Medicare beneficiaries, including co-payments, deductibles, and non-covered services; to ascertain all types of health insurance coverage and relate coverage to sources of payment; and to trace outcomes over time, such as changes in health status and spending down to Medicaid eligibility and the impacts of Medicare program changes on satisfaction with care and usual source of care.  The MCBS provides valuable information on health outcomes and social determinants of health not available in the administrative program data. 

The MCBS releases two Limited Data Set (LDS) Files annually as well as an annual MCBS Chartbook of key estimates from the survey.  All research requests for limited access data require a Data Use Agreement (DUA) and can be requested through the process outlined here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files.  Additionally, the MCBS releases numerous Public Use Files (PUFs) and accompanying documentation free for download on the MCBS PUF page.  For additional information on the differences between these types of files, please visit Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) here: Differences between RIF, LDS, and PUF Data Files.

MCBS Survey File (LDS) 2015-2021 Now Available, 2022 Available Summer 2024

The MCBS Survey File contains survey collected data augmented with administrative data to allow for analysis regarding the beneficiaries’ health status, access to health care, satisfaction with health care and usual source of care. The following information is contained in the MCBS Survey File: Beneficiary Demographics, Household Characteristics, Access to Care, Satisfaction with Care, Usual Source of Care, Health Insurance Timeline (shows types of insurances, the coverage eligibility, and what is covered), Health Status and Functioning and other topical survey sections like Medical Conditions, Health Behaviors, Preventive Services, Interview Characteristics, Beneficiary Knowledge of the Medicare Program, Residence Timeline, Facility Characteristics, and Beneficiary Income and Assets. This file also includes summarized administrative FFS utilization data and research claims which contain limited FFS claims content for those beneficiaries enrolled in FFS Medicare. The MCBS Survey File (LDS) is released 12-15 months after the end of data collection, and can be ordered here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files.

MCBS Survey File PUF 2013, 2015-2021 Now Available, 2022 Available Fall 2024

The MCBS Survey File PUF provides a publicly available MCBS file for researchers interested in the health, health care use, access to and satisfaction with care for Medicare beneficiaries, while providing the very highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. The MCBS Survey File PUF is prepared from data collected from Medicare beneficiaries living in the community and contains standard demographic variables, such as age categories, race/ethnicity, and gender, as well as information about health conditions, access to and satisfaction with care, type of insurance coverage, and summarized information on some types of utilization. The MCBS Survey File PUF is available free for download, along with its accompanying documentation on the MCBS PUF page.  This file is released approximately 3 months after the MCBS Survey File (LDS) is available.

MCBS Cost Supplement File (LDS) 2015-2021 Now Available, 2022 Available Fall 2024

The MCBS Cost Supplement links Medicare claims to survey-reported events and provides complete expenditure and source of payment data on all health care services, including those not covered by Medicare reported by our survey beneficiaries. Expenditure data were developed through a reconciliation process that combines information from survey respondents and Medicare administrative files. The process produces a comprehensive picture of health services received, amounts paid, and sources of payment. Linking this file to the MCBS Survey file can support a broader range of research and policy analyses on the Medicare population than would be possible using either survey data or administrative claims data alone. Survey-reported data include information on the use and cost of all types of medical services including inpatient hospitalizations, outpatient hospital care, physician services, home health care, durable medical equipment, skilled nursing home services, hospice care, and other medical services. The Cost Supplement File (LDS) is released 15-18 months after the administrative claims data is available, and can be ordered here: Limited Data Set (LDS) Files.

MCBS Cost Supplement File PUF 2018-2021 Now Available, 2022 Available Winter 2024

The MCBS Cost Supplement File PUF includes data that links Medicare claims to survey-reported health care events and provides summarized expenditure and source of payment data on all health care services, including those not covered by Medicare. The MCBS Cost Supplement File PUF is available free for download, along with its accompanying documentation on the MCBS PUF page. This file is released approximately 3 months after the MCBS Cost Supplement File (LDS) is available.

MCBS COVID-19 PUF 2021 Winter Now Available

The MCBS COVID-19 Supplement public use file provides a publicly available MCBS file for researchers interested in the experiences of Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The file provides information not available in the CMS administrative data on such things as telehealth availability, computer/internet access, and health care while providing the very highest degree of protection to the Medicare beneficiaries’ protected health information. The MCBS COVID-19 PUF is prepared from data collected from Medicare beneficiaries living in the community and contains standard demographic variables, such as age categories, race/ethnicity, and gender. The MCBS COVID-19 PUF is available free for download, along with its accompanying documentation on the MCBS PUF page. After Winter 2021, a subset of the COVID-19 Community Supplement items will be integrated into the main MCBS questionnaire.


MCBS Tutorials 


The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey is authorized by section 1875 (42 USC 139511) of the Social Security Act and is conducted by NORC for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The OMB Number for this survey is 0938-0568 and expires 08/31/2025.  

If you have questions or feedback regarding use of the MCBS data, please email us at MCBS@cms.hhs.gov.

Click here to subscribe to MCBS updates.

Page Last Modified:
02/23/2024 03:06 PM