During the 2008 Panel Waves 1 – 4 and the 2004 Panel Waves 1 – 12, respondents age 15-18 who did not provide valid answers for when they were last covered by health insurance were supposed to have the year they were last covered by health insurance (EHICVYR) set to the current year minus 1. The month they were last covered by health insurance (EHICVMTH) should have been statistically imputed, and the allocation flag (AHICVMTH) set to 1.

While the year these respondents were last covered by health insurance (EHICVYR) was set correctly to the current year minus 1, the edited monthly variable (EHICVMTH) was not imputed and instead was set to -1, out of universe. The allocation variable (AHICVMTH) was set to 0, no imputation. These errors occurred because instead of imputing EHICVMTH, the edit routine erroneously imputed the month these respondents were last not covered by health insurance (EHINOMTH).

This issue was resolved in the 2008 Panel Wave 5 and thereafter. For prior Panels/Waves, data users may wish to implement the following solution. Affected cases can be identified by the following criteria: age is between 15 and 19 years, EHICVYR equals the year prior to the interview year, and EHICVMTH is equal to -1. The cases identified by these criteria may be edited to change EHICVMTH from a value of -1 to a random month (EHICVMTH=1-12). Additionally, the allocation value for this variable may be changed to reflect that it is not a reported value (AHICVMTH = 5 recommended). And finally, users may wish to change EHINOMTH from its imputed value (EHINOMTH=1-12) to a value of -1 to indicate it is out of universe.

2008 Panel number of respondents impacted:

Wave 1: 115
Wave 2: 126
Wave 3: 132
Wave 4: 171

2004 Panel number of respondents impacted:

Wave 1: 10
Wave 2: 12
Wave 3: 11
Wave 4: 2
Wave 5: 5
Wave 6: 26
Wave 7: 3
Wave 8: 6
Wave 9: 0
Wave 10: 6
Wave 11: 10
Wave 12: 1