About PlainMedicare

Our Mission

PlainMedicare exists because seniors and their caregivers deserve clear, unbiased access to Medicare Advantage plan quality data during the most consequential insurance decision they make each year. With over 4,000 Medicare Advantage plans available nationally, choosing the right one requires comparing star ratings, premiums, benefits, and coverage across dozens of options in each county. The official Medicare.gov Plan Finder, while comprehensive, can be difficult to navigate, especially for seniors who need to compare plans across multiple dimensions simultaneously.

We believe Medicare beneficiaries should not need to be insurance experts to make informed plan selections. PlainMedicare organizes CMS plan data into clear, comparable views by state, county, and insurer, so you can see exactly which plans are available where you live, how they rate on quality, and what they cost.

Our Data Sources

All data comes directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare. We use three primary CMS datasets:

• CMS Medicare Advantage Star Ratings (2026): Quality measures across 10 domains including preventive screenings, chronic disease management, member experience, and customer service. Star ratings range from 1 to 5 stars and are the primary quality indicator for Medicare Advantage plans. CMS Star Ratings.
• CMS Medicare Advantage Plan Finder Data (2026): Plan premiums, deductibles, plan types, county-level availability, and enrollment figures for every Medicare Advantage plan offered in the United States.
• CMS Supplemental Benefits Data: Coverage details for dental, vision, hearing, and other optional benefits offered by each plan beyond basic Medicare coverage.

Our database covers 2.26 million plan-county records, 295 insurance organizations, and 3,188 counties across 52 state and territory codes.

How We Process the Data

We download raw plan data files from CMS, including Star Ratings, Plan Finder exports, and supplemental benefit tables, and process them through the following steps:

• Plan-county mapping: CMS publishes service area files that define which plans are available in which counties. We join plan data with service area data to create county-level views, so users can see exactly which plans are available where they live.
• Quality measure integration: Star ratings from the CMS five-star system are linked to each plan contract, preserving the original ratings without modification. Where CMS suppresses a measure due to small enrollment, we display it as unavailable rather than estimating a value.
• Benefit normalization: Supplemental benefit data is extracted and structured to enable side-by-side comparison of dental, vision, hearing, and other optional benefits across plans.
• Insurer organization: Plans are grouped by parent insurance organization, enabling insurer-level analysis of quality patterns and market presence.

Data Currency

PlainMedicare currently displays data for the 2026 plan year, reflecting CMS data published in October 2025 for the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 - December 7, 2025). This is the most current complete plan year data available from CMS.

CMS releases updated plan data annually, typically in October ahead of the Annual Enrollment Period. We update PlainMedicare within 30 days of each new CMS data release. Mid-year plan changes (benefit modifications, premium adjustments, plan terminations) may not be reflected until the next annual update cycle.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainMedicare is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from CMS is transformed into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainMedicare editorial team, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations and Disclaimers

PlainMedicare provides publicly available CMS data for informational purposes only. This is not medical or insurance advice. Important limitations:

• Not a replacement for Medicare.gov: Always verify current plan details, premiums, and availability at Medicare.gov, by calling 1-800-MEDICARE, or through your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) before enrolling.
• Plan availability is county-specific: Plans shown for your state may not be available in your specific county. Always check county-level availability.
• Star ratings are lagging indicators: Star ratings reflect performance from 1-2 years prior to the current plan year. A plan's current performance may differ from its most recent star rating.
• Premiums change annually: Premiums, deductibles, and benefits are set for each plan year and change at each annual renewal. The figures shown reflect the current plan year as published by CMS.
• Not affiliated with CMS or Medicare: PlainMedicare is an independent data portal. We are not affiliated with CMS, Medicare, or any insurance company.

Contact

For questions, corrections, or feedback, email hello@plainmedicare.com.

We welcome:

• Questions about data sources or methodology
• Reports of apparent data errors or outdated plan information
• Suggestions for improving plan comparison features
• Media and research inquiries

PlainMedicare is a data intelligence company that builds free, public-interest data portals.