Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

Seniors can now easier access the new Medicare drug benefit online through a Web site designed exclusively for novice senior computer users.

Generations on Line, a national nonprofit Internet literacy program for seniors, developed a free, simplified interface to help seniors navigate the Medicare site despite their lack of computer experience. The program is available at http://www.golmedicare.org.

The new Web site is in response to a national survey of older Americans by the Kaiser Family Foundation that last month found that only 2% of all seniors had gone online to www.Medicare.gov. Also, nearly 80% of people over 65 don’t have access to computers or aren’t computer literate, according a Pew study in 2004.

The new site, which is free to any senior or caretaker, 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.

Generations on Line also provides a simplified Internet program for seniors in nursing homes, retirement homes, senior centers and public libraries, with free simplified e-mail and other features.