About the MCBS
Background
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is a continuous, multi-purpose longitudinal survey representing the population of Medicare beneficiaries living in the United States. This survey is authorized by section 1875 (42 USC 1395ll) of the Social Security Act and is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MCBS is sponsored by the Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The MCBS is designed to aid CMS in administering, monitoring, and evaluating the Medicare program, and is essential in providing important information on beneficiaries that is not otherwise collected through operational or administrative data from the Medicare program.
For more information about the MCBS, including unique features of the survey and the types of data available, see NORC’s project page.
Resources on the MCBS
To access additional resources on the MCBS, check out the following links:
Public Use Files
To learn more about or download publicly available MCBS data, check out the microdata Survey File, Cost Supplement File, or COVID-19 Public Use Files (PUFs).
Questionnaires
Download the MCBS Questionnaires.
Data User Documentation
For data user documentation, including codebooks and information about the survey design, sampling methodology, interviewing procedures, weighting, and more, check out the MCBS Data Year Release Notes, Data User’s Guides, Methodology Reports, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
Analytic Guidance
For more information about using MCBS data and analytic guidance, check out the New and Advanced User Tutorials.
MCBS Estimates
To see MCBS estimates on various topics of interest, check out:
Bibliographies
To see how MCBS data have been studied in the past, check out the MCBS Bibliographies.
More Information About the Tools
For more information about the COVID-19 Data Tool, see this ABOUT PAGE.
For more information about the Survey File PUF Data Tool, see this ABOUT PAGE.
For more information about the Financial Well-being Data Tool, see this ABOUT PAGE.
Note on Medicare Terminology
The MCBS Interactives use the term “Fee-for-Service (FFS)” to refer to beneficiaries eligible for Part A and/or Part B Medicare benefits who were not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. This type of Medicare coverage is also referred to as “Original Medicare (OM).”
Recommended Citations
To cite the overall MCBS Interactives website:
NORC at the University of Chicago. Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Interactives. Last modified 2026. https://mcbs-interactives.norc.org.
To cite the Financial Well-being Data Tool:
NORC at the University of Chicago. “Financial Well-being Data Tool.” Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Interactives. Last modified 2026. https://mcbs-interactives.norc.org.
To cite the Survey File PUF Data Tool:
NORC at the University of Chicago. “Survey File PUF Data Tool.” Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Interactives. Last modified 2026. https://mcbs-interactives.norc.org.
To cite the COVID-19 Data Tool:
NORC at the University of Chicago. “COVID-19 Data Tool.” Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Interactives. Last modified 2021. https://mcbs-interactives.norc.org.