Medicare Current Beneficiary
Survey (MCBS) (CMS-P-0015A)
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
11/21/2025
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
08/31/2027
35,015
35,015
32,258
35,206
0
0
The Medicare Current Beneficiary
Survey (MCBS) is a continuous, multipurpose survey of a nationally
representative sample of aged, disabled, and institutionalized
Medicare beneficiaries. MCBS, which is sponsored by the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is the only comprehensive
source of information on the health status, health care use and
expenditures, health insurance coverage, and socioeconomic and
demographic characteristics of the entire spectrum of Medicare
beneficiaries. The purpose of this revision is to seek approval for
CMS to add new items on sleep apnea, thyroid disease, and bowel
disease, remove content that is no longer relevant to the goals of
the survey, and update existing content to better meet the policy
needs of CMS and stakeholders. To ensure the sustainability of the
survey and to maintain a reasonable level of respondent burden, it
is necessary to routinely review MCBS survey content and remove
items that are no longer as relevant to the policy landscape or
which are no longer performing well. The requested deletions are a
result of a content reduction process that CMS developed in 2024
and is currently using to review MCBS survey content in the
Community and Facility instruments. The goals of this process are
three-fold: 1) to promote efficiency by streamlining the
questionnaire and reducing respondent burden; 2) to continuously
assess utility of information collected by the MCBS and remove
questions that are no longer relevant, and 3) to maintain the
production of high-quality data by removing content that is no
longer performing well. For this full clearance revision, CMS has
used the content reduction process to identify items that a) are
low performing due to difficulty of administration or data quality
issues, b) are no longer needed at the same frequency of
administration, c) require updated question text or response
options, or d) no longer match the existing healthcare landscape or
require further evaluation.
Burden has decreased due to the
removal of 209 items and the revision of 46 items. As a result, the
total burden has decreased from 35,206 in the currently approved
clearance to 32,258. This is a net decrease of 2,948 burden hours
annually.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.