Attachment 18 -- HC Rds 2 & 4 Advance Letter

Summer 2009

Dear MEPS Participant,

We are writing to let you know it will soon be time for your next Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) interview. An interviewer will contact you in the near future to schedule an appointment.

As part of our on-going health care system evaluation, MEPS is particularly interested in people's opinions about the quality of their own care. So, prior to your next personal interview, we would like you to answer some questions about your health and health care by filling out a short opinion booklet. If there are other adults in the household, you will find additional booklets labeled for them to complete.

All opinions are confidential and will be used to enhance the information collected by MEPS.

After completing the booklet(s) please store in the enclosed envelope. Your interviewer will collect the envelope at the time of your personal interview. To ensure that everyone is compensated for his/her time, each person who completes a booklet will receive a $5 check from the interviewer. Of course, you will also receive the $50 payment at the conclusion of the in-person interview as compensation for the time you spend keeping records for the next interview.

Thank you in advance for being such an active participant in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. If you have any questions about the opinion booklet or your upcoming interview, please call Alex Scott at 1-800-945-MEPS or send an e-mail to [email protected].

S
incerely,

C arolyn Clancy, M.D. Edward J. Sondik, Ph.D.

Director Director

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Center for Health Statistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

¹This 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.

09-116.3