Medicare Web site a mystery to seniors

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Internet may be the cornerstone of Medicare’s strategy to enroll senior citizens in the new federal prescription drug program, but that isn’t persuading them to log on.

Consider Warren and Marilyn Gladitsch. They are well-educated – Marilyn has a master’s degree in public health. But they haven’t needed the Web before, and they won’t become surfers now.

“My husband doesn’t even want to touch the computer,” said Marilyn Gladitsch, 74.

Federal leaders have been aware from the start that many senior citizens dislike computers, even as the government has touted www.medicare.gov for them to learn about the Part D drug plan. It’s why President Bush, while campaigning for Part D last summer, asked computer-savvy people to help their elderly parents do research.

But with the beginning of enrollment Tuesday, Medicare analysts believe the lack of computer literacy among senior citizens is hurting efforts to get the anticipated drug benefit under way.

A poll released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that only 6 percent of responding senior citizens have ever looked at www.medicare.gov and that only 24 percent have ever used the Internet.

The Web site produces some very helpful recommendations, but it will take the average person 45 minutes to two hours to get to them, said Jerry Maher, a Part D expert for the Minnesota Senior Federation.

“This is not sending your grandchild an e-mail,” he said. “This is entering data and then doing analysis. … If you’re 88 years old and you have cataracts and arthritis, you aren’t going to do it.”

Some senior citizens may choose a name they trust to keep enrollment simple. But that could be costly. Others may not enroll. But if they don’t have comparable drug coverage through another plan, they will be penalized with higher premiums when they finally do enroll in Part D.

Bargain-hunters will need Medicare’s “plan finder,” a tool that was added to the federal Web site last week. The tool allows senior citizens to enter their specific drugs, desired premiums and preferred pharmacies to learn which plans will meet their criteria and save them the most money.

The best deal for some senior citizens may be plans with cheap premiums. But for others, cheap premiums will mean nothing if the plans don’t cover their expensive medications.

“For people who are inclined to make very rational decisions, they – or somebody they know – are going to have to use this tool,” said Tricia Neuman, Kaiser’s senior Medicare policy analyst.

Federal officials anticipated some confusion when they made the political decision to solicit Part D plans through numerous private insurers rather than through one standard federal program.

The Kaiser survey confirmed that 73 percent of senior citizens believe the high number of choices adds confusion and difficulty.

The Medicare Web site still has some problems. Some insurers are revising their cost information, so it is possible senior citizens could receive different information if they use the site now and try again next month.

The performance of the “plan finder” has been erratic in the first week – sometimes working very slowly or crashing.