MCBS Highilights: Medicare Beneficiaries' Use of Computers and Internet: 1998-2005

The Medicare Current Beneficiary Sur­ vey (MCBS) contains a vast amount of information about the Medicare popula­ tion. Common characteristics such as demographic, health status, and utilization of various services are included in the survey as well as other less known information. This highlight will look into the use of computers and Internet service by the Medicare population over time using data from 1998-2005 Access to Care Files. Demographic characteristics of the Medi­ care population who use the computer and Internet will also be examined using MCBS data. With the abundance of heath-related information available on the Internet, it is interesting to see how much of it is being utilized by the Medicare population. In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act introduced the Part D prescription drug