The 2008-comparable recodes are not being released in the public use files.  Beginning in 2014, the SIPP survey asked about health coverage types in improved ways.  In the survey redesign, Military and VA coverage was asked about as its own category, rather than being folded into the private health insurance question.  Additionally, to reduce the risk of under-reporting of Medicaid (which is asked about as its own category), those who reported “Other health insurance coverage” could select Medicaid when asked to specify the “Other” type of coverage they have.

In order to bridge these differences between the 2008 and 2014 SIPP Panels, an additional set of recode variables was produced in the 2014 Panel to be comparable to certain variables in the 2008 Panel. However, we also produced an improved set of recode variables, best tailored to the new data captured within the 2014 redesign, and intended to better align with the health insurance categories used in other surveys.

These 2008-comparable recodes are logically inconsistent with the improved 2014 recode variables, and may create confusion as a result.  Additionally, all of the information contained within the 2008-comparable recodes can be derived from the other survey variables available on the public use file.  The variables not released include: RCDMTH, RHIMTH, RHIOWNER, RNONHH, RHISPSE, RHIYNGKD, RHIOLDKD, RHIOTHR and RHIOTHER.