The National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) series provides information on health expenditures by or on behalf of families and individuals, the financing of these expenditures, and each person's use of services. Public Use Tape 16 is the second public use data release from the NMES Health Insurance Plans Survey (HIPS). The purpose of the HIPS was to verify information reported by respondents to two components of the NMES, the Household Survey and the Survey of American Indians and Alaska Natives (SAIAN), about their health insurance coverage. Additional details were also obtained from the employers, unions, and insurance companies through which coverage was provided. Parts 1 and 2 of Public Use Tape 16 are files that can be used to link data to Household Survey policyholders in NATIONAL MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY, 1987: POLICYHOLDERS OF PRIVATE INSURANCE: PREMIUMS, PAYMENT SOURCES, AND TYPES AND SOURCE OF COVERAGE [PUBLIC USE TAPE 15] (ICPSR 9901). These link files permit identification of the records in the Private Health Insurance Benefit Database (Parts 3-17 of this collection) that describe the specific benefits held by the policyholders. These files also permit linkage to the personal and socioeconomic characteristics for these policyholders found in NATIONAL MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY, 1987: HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND PERSON-LEVEL UTILIZATION, ROUNDS 1-4 [PUBLIC USE TAPE 13] (ICPSR 9695). Future link files will permit linkage of the Benefit Database to persons in the SAIAN and to dependents of policyholders in the Household Survey. The section files of the Benefit Database, Parts 4-13, contain information on Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), copayments, basic coverage, hospital and medical services, cost-containment provisions, major medical coverage, dental care, prescription drugs, vision and hearing care, and Medicare benefits. The schedule files, Parts 14-17, contain specific deductible amounts, dollar benefits, coinsurance provisions, maximum benefits, and benefit periods. Wherever possible, copies of policies or booklets describing the coverage and benefits were obtained in order to abstract this information.