Bridging the Inequality Gap to Accessing Medicare and Medicaid Information Online

Historic inequalities in U.S. Internet usage associated with demographic factors have left the underserved, primarily the poor and rural, with fewer information and options to public health insurance online. Government initiatives to overcome the Internet infrastructure barriers are opening access to Medicare and Medicaid websites for these vulnerable groups. Using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the Internet and American Life Project, we explore demographic factors asking: “how successful have government efforts been to bring underserved Americans online to Medicare and Medicaid public health insurance information?” The authors find some historic inequalities are narrowing as individuals with lower income are more likely to search for insurance information online with geographic differences not playing a major role. The authors’ findings also suggest that age and gender are important factors in determining which individuals search for insurance information online.