The data presented in this Chartbook were compiled from CAHPS Health Plan Survey results submitted to the CAHPS Database by various survey sponsors, including State Medicaid agencies, CHIP programs, individual health plans, and the Medicare program.
Data Sources
- Medicaid Data and CHIP Data: The survey results for the Medicaid and CHIP populations were obtained from data submitted directly to the CAHPS Database by State Medicaid agencies and individual health plans. The 2017 results are based on survey data collected between September 2016 and June 2017.
- Medicare Data: Each year, the CAHPS Database receives the CAHPS Medicare Managed Care survey data collected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). These results are for survey participants enrolled in a managed care health plan including both enrollees receiving prescription drug coverage through their health plan and those that do not receive prescription drug coverage through their health plan. The Medicare results presented here may differ from other reports because of the inclusion or exclusion of certain beneficiary groups and/or the use of case-mix adjustment variables. The survey data were collected from March through June 2017.
Appendix A presents the number of Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare survey respondents by State included in the 2017 CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database.
Data Limitations
Because the organizations that voluntarily contribute data to the CAHPS Database are not from a statistically representative sample of all U.S. health plans, and a limited number of plans may choose to participate, the submitting organizations are not representative of all U.S. health plans or enrollee populations.1 Estimates based on these voluntarily submitted data sets may produce biased estimates of the U.S. health plan and enrollee populations; it is not possible to compute estimates of precision from these data. In addition, the number and mix of sponsors contributing data vary slightly from year to year, and therefore comparisons over time should be made with these limitations and variations in mind. Comparisons of results across populations should also take into account that variations in benefit design and other factors might affect survey responses across populations.
