People on Medicare who are racial or ethnic minorities — as well as those with limited income — generally have reduced internet access compared to others, according to a new report released Monday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This means that older adults may also have less access to telehealth services.
Investigators used data from 823,262 people who responded to the 2019, 2021, and 2023 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey. The researchers calculated which people reported using the internet at home each year, and adjusted for race, age and sex.
In 2023, 77.1% of respondents used the internet at home, and rates were higher for white individuals compared to those who were Asian American and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian Alaska or Native. Internet usage rates were notably low among Hispanic older adults who responded to the survey in Spanish, but intermediate if they responded in another language including English.
Internet use was highest for older adults between 65 and 69 years old, which made up 86.1% of respondents; it went down with older age. Attaining higher education was associated with higher rates of internet use, as 59.4% of people with a high school degree or less used it, while 91.4% of those with a four-year degree or more were online.
Also, 83.9% of people who said they were in very good or excellent health used the internet at home compared to 65.7% who said their health was fair or poor.
People with limited income and assets were less likely to use the internet at home compared to others. Males had slightly higher usage compared to females, data showed.
“Consistent with prior research, we find lower internet access for racially or ethnically minoritized and limited-income people with Medicare,” the authors wrote. The team acknowledged that digital equity gaps may be narrowing, but said they still persist.
“Less healthy, less economically advantaged, older, Spanish-preferring, and racially or ethnically minoritized people with Medicare may be less likely to have access to telemedicine because of unreliable internet access but might nonetheless benefit from telemedicine if they had reliable internet access,” the authors added.
