Attachment 16 -- HC Rd 5 Advance Letter 1

Winter 2009

Dear MEPS Participant,

We are writing to let you know that the next Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) interview will be the final interview you will be asked to participate in for this study. This interview will ask only about health care use and expenses through December 31, 2008. 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.

The project will send you a reminder letter when it is closer to the date of your final interview, which is planned for the first half of 2009. Then, as before, an interviewer will contact you to schedule your final interview. If you would like to talk to a survey representative before then, please call Alex Scott at 1-800-945-MEPS (6377), a toll free number. As you know, your participation in this research effort has been vital in obtaining complete and accurate information about America’s rapidly changing health care system.

Enclosed in this mailing are two postcards; one to set an appointment and the other to notify us of any address or phone number changes before the next interview.

On behalf of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we thank you for your valuable contribution to this important research effort.¹ To learn more about the study, you also may visit the study website at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov.

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

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