Attachment 15 -- HC Rd 3 Advance Letter 2

09-110.3

Winter 2009

Dear MEPS Participant,

This is just a reminder that your MEPS interviewer will be contacting you within a few weeks to schedule your next interview. When you complete the interview you will receive a gift of $30 to thank you for your time and for keeping records about your family’s health care.

In late December we sent you a package that included a monthly planner (calendar) that you can use to keep notes about your health care. As you know, having this information ready will help with the interview. If you need another copy of the monthly planner, let your interviewer know when he or she calls to set an appointment for the interview.

Again, we want to assure you that privacy is a priority for this study and that the confidentiality of information given to the study is protected by law.¹

If you move before the next interview, please complete and return the enclosed postage-paid change of address card. If you need to speak with someone before you hear from your interviewer, please call our survey representative, Alex Scott at 1-800-945 MEPS (6377), a toll-free number. To learn more about the study, you may visit the study website at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov.

Thank you again for your valuable contribution to this most important research effort.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Clancy, M.D. Director Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Edward J. Sondik, Ph.D. Director National Center for Health Statistics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1 This survey is authorized under Section 902(a) of the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 299a]. The confidentiality of personal information is protected by Federal Statutes, Section 934(c) and Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c) and 242m(d)] and will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. That law requires that information collected for research conducted or supported by AHRQ that identifies individuals or establishments be used only for the purpose for which it was supplied unless you consent to the use of the information for another purpose..