Study shows seniors find Medicare Web site hard to navigate

NEW YORK Seniors who have difficulty navigating the Medicare Web site don’t just need another cup of coffee, according to research from the University of Miami reported by HealthDay News.

The researchers found that seniors have difficulty getting from one page on the site to another and have difficulty finding the information they need.

The team enlisted 112 people aged 50 and older who knew how to use computers and had them find their eligibility for home health-care services, find a home-care agency, find out about enrolling in the Medicare prescription drug program and select a prescription drug plan.

Almost 70 percent couldn’t find specific information about home-care services, while more than 80 percent could do the computation to determine which home-care plan to use. More than 70 percent also had difficulty finding information about the Medicare part D prescription drug program.

Results of the study were published in a research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday.