LINKING MEDICARE AND NATIONAL SURVEY DATA

Administrative records from the Medicare Program of the Health Care Fi nancing Administration provide a valuable source of information for re search on medical and public policy issues. This administrative databa se contains information on utilization of covered medical services, di agnoses, episodes of illness, and Medicare-covered costs of health car e. Combining such data with information from national surveys on healt h status, demographics, and socioeconomic attributes substantially exp ands the scope of potential research questions that can be addressed. This article discusses the benefits and difficulties of linking Medica re administrative data with survey data and provides brief summaries o f five national surveys of elderly U.S. citizens. These surveys can be valuable resources for examining the health status and life experienc es of the Medicare population.