TY  - JOUR
AU  - Card,David
AU  - Hildreth,Andrew K. G.
AU  - Shore-Sheppard,Lara D.
TI  - The Measurement of Medicaid Coverage in the SIPP: Evidence from California, 1990-1996
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8514
PY  - 2001
Y2  - October 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8514
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8514.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David Card
Department of Economics
549 Evans Hall, #3880
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA  94720-3880
Tel: 510/642-5222
Fax: 510/643-7042
E-Mail: card@econ.berkeley.edu

Andrew Hildreth
E-Mail: no email available

Lara Shore-Sheppard
Department of Economics
Williams College
24 Hopkins Hall Drive
Williamstown, MA 01267
Tel: 413/597-2226
Fax: 413/597-4045
E-Mail: lshore@williams.edu
AB  - This paper studies the accuracy of reported Medicaid coverage in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) using a unique data set formed by matching SIPP survey responses to administrative records from the State of California.  Overall, we estimate that the SIPP underestimates Medicaid coverage in the California population by about 10 percent.  Among SIPP respondents who can be matched to administrative records, we estimate that the probability someone reports Medicaid coverage in a month when they are actually covered is around 85 percent. The corresponding probability for low-income children is even higher - at least 90 percent.  These estimates suggest that the SIPP provides reasonably accurate coverage reports for those who are actually in the Medicaid system.  On the other hand, our estimate of the false positive rate (the rate of reported coverage for those who are not covered in the administrative records) is relatively high: 2.5 percent for the sample as a whole, and up to 20 percent for poor children.  Some of this is due to errors in the recording of Social Security numbers in the administrative system, rather than to problems in the SIPP.
ER  -