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New Website Tool Helps Seniors Get Medicare Drug
Card Information Easier
 Feb.
3, 2005 - Generations on Line, a national nonprofit Internet literacy
program for senior citizens, today announced a simple new way for
seniors to access the new Medicare drug benefit online.
The easiest and fastest way for seniors to get drug
discount savings from Medicare is through the Internet, where they
answer a series of online questions on the Medicare website, said Tobey
Dichter, founder and chief executive officer of Generations on Line.
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Older Americans Big On Internet, Elderly Not There, Yet
Income appears as major obstacle for many senior
citizens
Jan. 19, 2005 – With the Internet becoming an
increasingly important resource for informed decisions about health and
health care options, a recent national survey of older Americans by the
Kaiser Family Foundation finds that less than a third (31%) of senior
citizens (age 65 and older) have ever gone online, but that more than
two-thirds (70%) of the next generation of seniors (50-64 year-olds)
have done so.
Read more...
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However, a new national survey of older Americans
(e-health and the Elderly: How Seniors Use the Internet for Health) by
the Kaiser Family Foundation released last month found that only 2% of
all seniors had gone online to Medicare.gov. Nearly 80% of people over
65 don't have access to computers or aren't computer literate, according
to the Pew Internet & American Life 2004 study.
To address these issues, Generations on Line has
developed a free, simplified interface designed exclusively for novice
senior computer users that enables them to use the Medicare site despite
their lack of computer experience.
http://www.golmedicare.org.
The new website provides onscreen instructions to
help those less familiar with computing to enroll in the new drug card
benefits and determine eligibility for a $600 drug credit for low-income
seniors. The website -- http://www.golmedicare.org -- is available free
to any senior or caretaker who wishes to use it.
"This is a good example of the importance of
closing the digital divide among seniors," Ms. Dichter said. "In
addition to the new Medicare tutorial, Generations on Line provides a
simplified Internet program for seniors in more than 1000 senior
centers, public libraries, nursing and retirement homes across the
country, providing free simplified email, searching in 36 languages, and
an intergenerational cultural exchange about the past," she said.
For more information go to
http://www.generationsonline.org or call 215 222 6400. For more help
on Medicare, call 1 800medicare or
http://www.medicare.gov.
About Generations On Line
(www.generationsonline.org)
The mission of Generations on Line is to promote
this technology to enhance the quality of life of older people. In 2002,
Generations on Line won the MindAlert Award from The American Society on
Aging and MetLife Foundation.
Generations on Line began its operations in July of
1999. Prior to starting the organization, founder Tobey Gordon Dichter
spent 30 years as a communications and public affairs executive. Her
work in the non-profit sector and personal appreciation of older
people's experience, wisdom and warmth serve as the motivation and
inspiration for Generations on Line, she says. Dichter began a personal
study of this area in 1996, and by 1999 recognized that the Internet was
both a potential opportunity to multigenerational communications and a
threat because Internet illiteracy could further marginalize elders from
a fast-moving society.
Aimed at the large population of older Americans
who cannot afford or choose not to enroll in computer training or
Internet training, Generations on Line is both a service for access and
product for learning. We provide specially programmed self-training
software to senior centers, libraries, retirement homes and other
locations where older people congregate. These are free to elders. The
cost to the centers is $350 with a small annual maintenance fee.
Generations on Line is a national nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation,
headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Using familiar images and large type instructions,
the program guides elders who have no computer experience through four
basic Internet functions: electronic mail (email), discussion (threaded
chat), a multi-lingual search through a partnership with Yahoo! and
links to other sites. A significant feature of Generations on Line is
Memories: Generation to generation, specially designed to link school
children with elders, trapping their wisdom, experiences, and knowledge
in an oral history and culture exchange.
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