Medicare Datasets
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for those aged 65 and older, certain people under 65 with disabilities, and people of any age with end-stage renal disease in the United States (US). Medicare covers about 96% of all US citizens aged 65 and older. These data have been used to describe patterns of morbidity and mortality and burden of disease, compare the effectiveness of pharmacologic therapies, examine the cost of care, evaluate the effects of provider practices on the delivery of care, and explore the effects of important policy changes on physician practices and patient outcomes. In 2014, 16% of Medicare beneficiaries were under the age of 65 years, 46% were between 65 and 74 years, 25% between 75 and 84 years, and 12% over the age of 85 years. Fifty-five percent of beneficiaries were female, 76% were white, 10% black, 9% Hispanic, and 5% Asian or other/unknown race.
Study design
Registry
Number of participants at first data collection
> 55,000,000 (participants as of 2015)
Recruitment is ongoing
Age at first data collection
Varied (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1965
Primary Institutions
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Secondary data
- None
- None
- Existing research data
- Healthcare data
- Mortality data
Engagement
Keywords
