Survey of health services utilization and expenditures, 1970

The data in this study were collected in a national survey conducted by the Center for Health Administration Studies and the National Opinion Research Center, the University of Chicago. The study was conducted to compare conditions with those found in similar studies done in 1953, 1958, and 1964. In the survey, respondents from 3,763 families plus additional aged individuals--a total of 11,619 persons--were interviewed in 1971. One or more persons in each family provided information regarding use of health services, the cost of such services, and how these costs were met for the calendar year 1970. Information was also collected on perceptions of illness and health, attitudes and opinions about medical care in the United States, and health beliefs. An attempt was made to verify all hospital admissions, physician visits, and insurance reports and claims. The inner-city poor, the aged, and rural residents were overrepresented in the sample design so that these groups of particular policy interest could be examined in detail. Weights were developed to allow for estimates to be made for the total non-institutionalized population of the United States.