Reconciling medical expenditure estimates from the MEPS and NHEA, 2002.

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) are often used for health care policy analysis and simulations because they contain comprehensive estimates of national health care expenditures. The NHEA are primarily based on aggregate provider revenue data, while MEPS is based on person-level data on health care expenditures. This article compares MEPS and NHEA expenditure estimates for 2002 and discusses the differences. When MEPS and the NHEA are adjusted to be on a consistent basis, their expenditure estimates differ by 13.8 percent.