Community Authority Letter

[DATE]
Dear [RECIPIENT],

On behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, NORC at the University of Chicago is undertaking an important national study called
the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). The survey, which has been conducted since 1991,
provides policymakers with information on the health care experiences of people eligible for Medicare
across the country. The survey collects information about:
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The health concerns of people on Medicare,
The types of medical care they receive, and
The cost and affordability of the care and medicine they need.

We are interviewing Medicare beneficiaries in selected areas throughout the United States, including
your community, as part of a national random sample for the MCBS. NORC interviewers will contact
selected beneficiaries in your community by phone or in person starting in late July. People selected
for this survey may contact your organization for details about it. We appreciate your help in
sharing information about the survey.
If you have any questions or would like more information on the study or NORC, please visit:
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Our Study Page on the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services website at
https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/MCBS
Our MCBS Respondent Website at https://mcbs.norc.org/us/en/mcbs.html
Our NORC Respondent Care Center at
https://www.norc.org/WorkingWithNORC/Pages/default.aspx

You may also contact me directly at 1-800-387-0258 or e-mail me at [email protected]. We also
invite you to share this information within your network and/or post online to notify your
community of this survey! For your convenience, the reverse side of this letter contains a write-up
which you may directly copy to share with your networks. Thank you in advance!
Sincerely,

Ella Kemp
MCBS Field Production Manager
NORC Senior Field Manager
OMB No. 0938-0568
Expires 8/31/2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to know what you think about
your Medicare coverage! You or someone you know may be selected to participate in a
research survey called the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). NORC administers
this survey on behalf of CMS. NORC at the University of Chicago is a nonpartisan research
center.
If you are selected to participate, a NORC representative will contact you, provide more
information on the survey, and set up an appointment for your interview. The interview can take
place over the phone, in your home, or another location. You will answer questions like:
1. “How satisfied or dissatisfied have you been with the out-of-pocket costs you paid for
health care?” Or,
2. “What kind of place do you usually go to when you are sick or for advice about your
health?”
Your answers do not impact your Medicare benefits; both privacy and security are NORC's
top priorities. Any data that could potentially identify you are kept private and secure. Your
answers are combined with those provided by many others and are used exclusively for
research.
Your responses really matter! Data from the MCBS is used to inform improvements to
Medicare coverage, including the creation of new benefits. For example, data from the MCBS
was used to create benefits like Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit and screenings for
colon cancer. By answering these surveys, you can help improve Medicare for millions of
people.
If you have any questions about the credibility of an interviewer or your survey participation,
you can visit http://www.norc.org/verifyme, call 1-866-856-NORC, or email
[email protected]. You may ask for an interviewer's employee ID number on their badge
and verify they work at NORC using any of the resources above.
For more information on participating in the MCBS, we recommend you visit the following
links:
 “What is the MCBS?” Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW3KAcRs5oA
 MCBS Respondent Website: https://mcbs.norc.org/us/en/mcbs/what-can-i-expect.html

OMB No. 0938-0568
Expires 8/31/2025