Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Releases 2011 MCBS Access to Care Research Files
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Access to Care research files are designed to provide quick access to MCBS data and related findings to users. With over 20 years of continuous data collection, the MCBS is the preeminent source of information related to Medicare beneficiary access to and satisfaction with care, health status, health care cost and use, and source of payment. The survey represents the total Medicare population, whether aged or disabled, living in the community or a facility, or served by managed care or fee-for-service (FFS) and as such provides unique insight into the Medicare program, its operations, and the people it serves.
In a reflection of the commitment the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has to greater transparency and timeliness, the 2011 Access to Care files are being released three months earlier than the 2010 files and less than year after interviews were conducted in the field.
This data brief provides a snapshot of the approximately 42.5 million Medicare beneficiaries that lived in the community, were alive for the Fall 2011 interview, became eligible for Medicare before 2011, and lived in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The brief highlights selected estimates for key areas of the MCBS Access to Care files:
- Comparisons between beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage health plans (MA) and those enrolled in traditional FFS
- Racial and ethnic disparities in health care utilization and health outcomes
- Beneficiary satisfaction with and access to care
Click below to access the full data brief.