The purpose of this agreement is for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide financial support to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). This project is a collaborative effort between the NCI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) of the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the American Cancer Society (ACS). A separate intra-agency agreement exists between the NCI and the CDC. A direct citation was completed between OBSSR and NCI. An NCI gift fund was established for ACS funds. The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is nationally representative survey of the civilian non-institutionalized population of all ages in the United States conducted by AHRQ. The MEPS collects comprehensive data on health care and health care expenditures from all payors (including private payors, Medicaid, the VA, and out-of-pocket) over a two year period. The MEPS uses the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) as its sample frame, but includes only a subset of the NHIS sample (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the households and individuals). In 2010, the NHIS includes a cancer control supplement and this NHIS year will serve as the sample frame for this project. Using the NHIS condition list to identify households with cancer survivors (i.e., respondent with an affirmative response to ?Have you ever been told by a physician or other health professional that you had cancer or a malignancy of any kind??), these households will be oversampled for selection in the 2011 MEPS. The project team will work closely with MEPS investigators to make the final determination of the populations of cancer survivors that will be over-sampled. Households with young cancer survivors (younger than age 65) are of particular interest. The added population of cancer survivors will allow for more complete, nationally representative estimates of the costs of cancer care for patients of all ages. Targeted questionnaires for households with cancer survivors will also be developed to address cancer treatment and quality of care measures for cancer survivors and their families. These questionnaires will be fielded in 2011 and 2012.
