Who reviews Medicare Plan Path content, and how.

Our editorial standards

Medicare changes every plan year. Marketing around it changes faster. These are the standards every page on Medicare Plan Path has to meet before it ships.

• CMS-first sourcing. Plan rules, enrollment periods, premiums, and benefit categories come from Medicare.gov, the current-year Medicare & You handbook, the CMS Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines (MCMG), and CMS plan-finder data. Carrier brochures are not treated as primary sources.
• 2026 plan-year accuracy. Part B premium, Part D thresholds, IRMAA brackets, MOOP limits, and Medigap standardization details reflect the applicable plan year. Pages with year-specific figures carry a "last reviewed" date and are refreshed when CMS publishes new numbers.
• Disclosure of carrier relationships. We are appointed with multiple Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Part D carriers. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and we say so on every page where we recommend talking to an agent.
• No commission-only recommendations. Editorial reviewers are not paid more for steering readers toward higher-commission plan types. Our reviewers are explicitly instructed to flag any content that reads like it is pushing a product instead of explaining a trade-off.
• Broker compensation disclosure. When a reader submits a form and later enrolls in a plan with an agent we referred them to, that agent may receive a standard CMS-regulated commission. That is disclosed in plain language on this page and in our site-wide footer disclaimer.
• Right to opt out. Every guide notes that readers can use Medicare.gov directly, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or contact their state SHIP for free unbiased counseling. We do not pretend an agent is the only path.

Reviewer credentials

We attribute reviews by credential and role, not by personal brand. Two reviewers sign off on every Medicare page on this site.

Lead Reviewer — State-Licensed Health Insurance Agent

• Licensure: Resident health insurance producer license in good standing, with non-resident appointments across multiple states. National Producer Number (NPN) is on file with the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) and can be verified on request.
• Annual certification: Current AHIP Medicare certification, including the Fraud, Waste & Abuse module, completed every plan year before AEP.
• Carrier appointments: Actively appointed with multiple Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement (Medigap), and stand-alone Part D carriers.
• Experience: 15+ years working with Medicare-eligible beneficiaries; 200+ Medicare enrollments per year, including AEP, OEP, IEP, and SEP cases.
• Reviews on this site: All Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, Part D, and enrollment-period content. Flags any phrasing that would conflict with the CMS Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines.

Consumer-Education Reviewer — Former SHIP Counselor

• Background: Former certified counselor with a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). SHIP counselors are trained and federally funded to give unbiased Medicare counseling and do not sell insurance.
• Experience: 8 years of one-on-one Medicare counseling through senior centers and an Area Agency on Aging, including help with Extra Help / Low-Income Subsidy applications and Medicare Savings Programs.
• Reviews on this site: Plain-language clarity, neutrality, and accurate explanation of rights — including the right to stay with Original Medicare, the right to free SHIP counseling, and protections against high-pressure sales.

We deliberately attribute by credential rather than by personal name. Medicare beneficiaries are targeted by scams that lean on fake "expert" bios; credential-first attribution lets you verify the qualifications that actually matter — licensure, NPN registration, and SHIP training — rather than a headshot.

Review cadence

Medicare runs on a fixed annual calendar, and our review schedule is anchored to it. Every Medicare page on this site is reviewed at least once a year, and most are reviewed twice.

• Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) pages — reviewed and refreshed each year before October 15, when AEP opens. This covers plan-comparison guides, "what changes for 2026" pages, and plan-switching how-tos.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (OEP) pages — reviewed before January 1, when OEP opens, and again mid-OEP if CMS issues guidance changes.
• Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) and Special Enrollment Period (SEP) pages — reviewed annually and whenever CMS updates SEP triggers.
• Plan-year figures — Part B premium, Part D thresholds (deductible, initial coverage limit, catastrophic threshold), IRMAA brackets, and MOOP limits are updated within 30 days of CMS publication.
• "Last reviewed" date — every Medicare guide carries a visible last-reviewed date and the reviewer role that signed it off.

How a page gets reviewed, step by step

1. Source from primary CMS materials. Drafts are built from Medicare.gov, the current-year Medicare & You handbook, the CMS MCMG, and CMS plan-finder data — not from carrier marketing.
2. Licensed-agent technical review. A state-licensed health insurance agent checks every claim about premiums, deductibles, MOOPs, IRMAA, Part D thresholds, enrollment windows, and CMS marketing-rule compliance.
3. Consumer-education review. A former SHIP counselor reviews for plain language, neutrality, and accurate explanation of consumer rights — including the option to use Medicare.gov directly or call 1-800-MEDICARE without ever speaking to an agent.
4. Disclosure and compliance check. Required disclosures are present: not affiliated with the federal Medicare program, not offering every plan in the area, and broker-compensation disclosure.
5. Annual refresh. Page is re-reviewed before the corresponding enrollment window (AEP before Oct 15, OEP before Jan 1) and whenever CMS publishes new plan-year figures.

How to verify a Medicare agent — ours or anyone else's

You do not have to take any website's word for it. Before you work with any Medicare agent, you can independently verify them in three places:

• NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry). Look up the agent's National Producer Number (NPN) and confirm their active state appointments at nipr.com.
• Your state Department of Insurance. Confirm the agent holds an active resident or non-resident license in your state and check for any disciplinary actions.
• Your state SHIP. Call your state SHIP for a free second opinion before enrolling. SHIP counselors do not sell insurance and are not paid commissions.

If a Medicare agent — including any agent we refer you to — refuses to give you their NPN, that is a red flag.