How our plan analysis works

What we use

Your ZIP code and county, your age band, the health conditions you select, and each prescription you enter with its strength, quantity, and days supply. We only use what you give us. We do not buy or look up information about you.

How the estimates are produced

Your answers are sent to an independent plan data service, which returns the Medicare Advantage plans available in your county along with its own cost estimates for each one. We show those figures as supplied. We do not adjust, average, or recalculate them, and we never fill in a figure the service did not provide.

What each figure means

• Monthly premium — what the plan charges each month, before any Part B give-back.
• Estimated annual premium — the premium across a full year.
• Estimated medical costs — likely out-of-pocket spending on medical care for a year, based on the conditions you reported.
• Estimated prescription costs — likely out-of-pocket spending for a year on the medications you entered, under that plan's drug coverage.
• Estimated total annual cost — the premium plus estimated medical and prescription costs for a year. This is the number we compare plans on.
• Maximum out-of-pocket — the most a plan can require you to pay in-network for covered medical care in a year. It is a ceiling on your risk, not a prediction.

How the three labels are chosen

• Lowest Estimated Annual Cost — the qualifying plan with the lowest estimated total annual cost.
• Lower Financial Risk — among plans estimated to cost no more than 20% above the lowest-cost plan, the one with the lowest known in-network maximum out-of-pocket amount. If no maximum out-of-pocket figure is available, we leave this label off.
• Strong Value Alternative — a different qualifying plan chosen by higher CMS star rating first, then lower estimated total cost, then lower maximum out-of-pocket. We only show it when it is meaningfully different from the other two.

We would rather show one or two honest labels than three artificial ones, so a label is simply left out when nothing genuinely qualifies.

Why plans without Part D are kept separate

A "Medicare Advantage" search returns both plans that include Part D prescription coverage and plans that do not. A medical-only plan has no prescription costs in its total, so its total is not comparable with a plan that covers your medications. We list those plans in their own section, never as a recommendation when you have entered prescriptions, and we do not estimate what separate drug coverage would cost you.

What "Not provided" means

When the plan data service does not supply a figure, we show "Not provided" rather than a zero. "$0" means the service reported zero. "Not applicable" means the item cannot apply to that plan — for example, prescription costs on a plan without Part D. Where some parts of a plan's cost are missing, we say so and keep the service's own total exactly as supplied instead of making the parts add up.

Estimates, not guarantees

Every figure is an estimate for comparison, based on the information you provided. Your actual costs depend on the care you use, the pharmacy you use, and the plan's rules in the year you enroll. Plan availability, pricing, networks, and benefits can change. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or CMS, this is not an enrollment service, and you should confirm any plan's details with Medicare.gov or the plan itself before making a decision.