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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Prescription for trouble
— Medicare Part D and patterns of computer and Internet access among the elderly | | Author(s) | David Wright, Twyla J Hill |
| Journal title | Journal of Aging & Social Policy, vol 21, no 2, April-June 2009 |
| Publisher | Routledge, April-June 2009 |
| Pages | pp 172-186 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Drugs ; Health insurance ; Information technology ; Physical disabilities ; Economic status [elderly] ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 specifically encourages Medicare enrollees to use the Internet to obtain information regarding the new prescription drug insurance plans and to enrol in a plan. This reliance on computer technology and the Internet leads to practical questions regarding implementation of the insurance coverage. For example, it seems unlikely that all Medicare enrollees have access to computers and the Internet, or that they are at all computer literate. This study uses the 2003 Current Population Survey to examine the effects of disability and income on computer access and Internet use among older people. Internet access declines with age and is exacerbated by disabilities. Also, decreases in income lead to decreases in computer ownership and use. Therefore, providing prescription drug coverage primarily through the Internet seems likely to maintain or increase stratification of access to health care, especially for low-income, disabled older people who are also a group most in need of health care access. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-100907009 A |
| Classmark | LLD: WPG: UVB: BN: F:W: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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