Medicare Web Site Too Difficult for Some

The federal government has spent a lot of time and money working to make it easier for individuals to navigate through websites of various agencies such as Social Security, Department of Labor, FEMA and others.  As a result, it has become easier for people to get the information and assistance that they need without having to wait on hold for a long time, listen to a recording or wait for certain forms to arrive in the mail.

The Medicare web site, however, is playing to mixed reviews.  A study was done which reveals that even adults with adequate computer skills have a hard time getting the site to perform certain tasks.  The results of the study will be released in the next Journal of the American Medical Association.

In brief, what the study discovered is that participants had difficulty navigating the site and finding information.  They also had difficulty determining Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) eligibility, choosing a plan and finding out how much it would cost them and determining their eligibility for home health services. 

There were 112 computer literate adults over 50 years of age who participated in the survey.  None of them had any barriers to handling these tasks, such as problems speaking, reading or understanding English, seeing the screen, using the keyboard or using the computer in general.  Nor did they have vision, hearing or mental problems.  They were also comfortable using the internet and websites.

The participants took a survey at the end of the study, and they were allowed to leave comments.  They overwhelmingly said that they used the internet as a reliable source of medical information, however, they did not feel that the Medicare site was user friendly, and they commented that people who were comfortable on a computer would have a more difficult time than those who were part of the study.

Medicare says that they have looked at language, graphics and all of the areas that the study looked at and continually try to improve their site and other information.  They also pointed to the fact that the small study of 112 participants does not negate that over 44 million individuals with Medicare benefits use the web site on a regular basis.