If users of the wave-5 topical module on Employer Provided Health Benefits wish to merge this topical module data with core data such as health insurance, please pay special attention to the reference periods and the universe of each variable.

The reference period in the core file is, unless otherwise specified, "any time in the reference period." However, the reference period in this topical module is, "the fourth month of the reference period." This means that if a respondent had HI in month 1, 2, and 3, but not in month 4, this topical model takes the month 4 status. This will make the joint frequency distribution of EHICOV by EWHEHEAL, for example, appear inconsistent. While EHICOV is from the health insurance core and refers to health insurance coverage "any time in the four reference months," EWHEHEAL is from the health benefit topical module and coverage refers to month 4 only.

Many joint frequency distributions may give a wrong impression of inconsistency because of different universes of the variables. Please take note of the correct item universe in order to use and interpret the variables correctly.

Since the edits of this topical module follow some of the already approved core files, any data inconsistencies that have crept into the core files may affect this topical module file as well. Please be careful about the user notes attached with the core files as well.