Choosing Medicare coverage involves more than finding a list of available plans.
Beneficiaries need to understand which plans are available where they live, how they differ, what their medical care and prescriptions might cost, and where to find knowledgeable local assistance.
These questions are closely related, but the information needed to answer them is often scattered across different websites, plan documents, government datasets, and insurance directories.
At MedicarePlans.com, we’re working to bring those pieces together.
Our goal is to create a more connected Medicare research experience that helps beneficiaries move from discovering local coverage options to understanding potential expenses and finding professional assistance when they need it.
And we’re using artificial intelligence to help build the technology behind that experience.
Medicare Decisions Start with Where You Live
Medicare coverage is inherently local.
Medicare Advantage plans and standalone prescription drug plans are offered within defined geographic service areas. The options available to someone in one county may differ significantly from those available in a neighboring county.
Even when plans are available in the same area, their provider networks, benefits, prescription coverage, and cost-sharing requirements can differ.
That’s why MedicarePlans.com organizes Medicare information by state and county.
Our existing directories use data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to help beneficiaries investigate Medicare Advantage plans, Special Needs Plans, prescription drug coverage, and Medicare Supplement insurance.
But identifying available plans is only the beginning.
A useful Medicare research experience should also help people understand what those plans mean for their individual circumstances.
The Problem with Comparing Medicare Medical Costs
Consider a relatively common Medicare Advantage benefit: outpatient surgery.
One plan might charge a fixed copayment for an outpatient surgical procedure. Another might require the beneficiary to pay 20% coinsurance.
Which is more expensive?
The answer isn’t necessarily obvious.
A $300 copayment is straightforward. A 20% coinsurance requirement is harder to evaluate without knowing what amount that percentage applies to.
As MedicarePlans.com founder David Bynon explains:
“A plan might tell you that outpatient surgery has a 20% coinsurance. But 20% of what? How is someone supposed to compare that with another plan charging a flat copay amount?”
This is one of the challenges we’re working to address.
Turning Published Benefits into Understandable Comparisons
Medicare Advantage plans describe beneficiary expenses through combinations of copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and other cost-sharing provisions.
These structures can make comparisons difficult even when the underlying benefit information is publicly available.
We’re developing technology to organize published Medicare benefit data into standardized comparisons that help beneficiaries investigate potential out-of-pocket expenses.
For selected medical services, the system is intended to present comparable cost-sharing information and, where reliable supporting data is available, estimated expenses.
An important distinction will remain: a published copayment or coinsurance requirement is not the same as a guaranteed estimate of what a particular medical service will cost.
Actual expenses can depend on provider contracts, the services received, applicable coverage rules, and individual circumstances.
Our objective is to make these differences easier to understand without obscuring the limitations of the underlying information.
Bringing Prescription Drug Costs into the Picture
Medical benefits represent only part of the Medicare cost equation.
Prescription drug expenses can be equally important, particularly for beneficiaries taking several medications on an ongoing basis.
But comparing prescription coverage involves more than checking whether a drug appears on a formulary.
Costs may depend on the medication’s strength and dosage, quantity, formulary placement, pharmacy participation, coverage stage, and applicable plan rules.
Two beneficiaries enrolled in the same prescription drug plan may experience different expenses because they take different medications or use different pharmacies.
Developing More Useful Prescription Comparisons
MedicarePlans.com is developing tools to make this information easier to investigate.
Our planned features include displaying prescription information for 25 commonly prescribed medications on individual plan pages.
We’re also developing a prescription lookup experience that will allow beneficiaries to enter their own medications and investigate estimated expenses across available coverage options and participating pharmacies.
These capabilities require processing and connecting substantial volumes of Medicare prescription, formulary, pharmacy, and plan information.
The goal isn’t simply to display more data.
It’s to help beneficiaries ask more useful questions about their prescription coverage and understand the factors that influence their potential costs.
Finding Medicare Assistance in Your Own Community
Understanding plan availability and potential expenses is important. So is knowing where to turn when you need additional help.
We’re developing a local Medicare insurance agent and agency directory that will complement our existing geographic plan directories.
The directory will help beneficiaries identify licensed Medicare insurance professionals serving their communities.
Where appointment information has been verified, beneficiaries can also see which insurance carriers those professionals are appointed to represent.
That distinction matters because not every insurance agent represents every Medicare carrier or coverage option.
By connecting local plan information with local professional discovery, we want beneficiaries to better understand the resources available to them.
Independent Publishing, Not Enrollment Lead Generation
Our business model centers on independent information publishing and optional professional directory services.
We do not intend to sell beneficiary inquiries, operate an enrollment call center, or collect enrollment commissions through the directory.
The directory helps people find local professional assistance while preserving the distinction between independent Medicare research and insurance sales.
Where Artificial Intelligence Fits
Artificial intelligence is changing how sophisticated software and information systems can be developed.
At MedicarePlans.com, we use AI-assisted programming, research, analysis, and data-processing tools to speed up the development of our publishing infrastructure.
But there’s an important distinction between using AI to build information tools and asking AI to recommend Medicare coverage.
We’re pursuing the former.
Beneficiaries shouldn’t have to learn how to prompt an AI chatbot to investigate their Medicare options.
They should be able to use familiar website features: local directories, comparison tables, prescription lookup tools, and professional listings.
Behind those features, specialized software processes structured Medicare data, performs calculations, and organizes information for publication.
Our approach also reflects research into how AI systems interpret and communicate Medicare information. Independent reporting by TheStreet examined challenges in AI-generated Medicare answers, including findings from the Medicare Visibility Monitor and the importance of maintaining accurate coverage context.
AI helps us develop and operate those systems. It is not a substitute for authoritative coverage information.
Building More with a Small Independent Team
Our development approach recently attracted attention from Inc., which examined how MedicarePlans.com is building a technology-intensive publishing startup without outside investors. The article explores how AI-assisted development, specialized publishing expertise, and personally financed infrastructure are making sophisticated software development possible for a small independent organization.
The company finances development through personal resources and earnings from established publishing work, supported by years of experience building Medicare data and publishing systems.
AI-assisted tools from OpenAI and Perplexity have accelerated programming, research, and analysis that would traditionally require a much larger technical organization.
That acceleration is valuable, but the underlying Medicare expertise remains essential.
Understanding CMS data structures, Medicare plan identifiers, geographic service areas, benefits, formularies, and coverage rules requires specialized knowledge.
AI can help build the software. It doesn’t eliminate the need to understand the information the software processes.
Bringing the Medicare Research Process Together
Our longer-term vision connects three fundamental questions:
What Medicare coverage is available where I live?
Beneficiaries should be able to investigate local plans, coverage types, benefits, and availability.
What might my medical care and prescriptions cost?
Comparison tools should help explain published cost-sharing requirements and investigate estimated expenses where reliable information is available.
Who can help me understand my options?
Local professional directories should make it easier to identify licensed insurance agents and agencies serving the beneficiary’s community.
These questions belong together because Medicare decisions rarely involve just one of them.
A beneficiary might identify an attractive plan, then discover that a preferred pharmacy has different cost-sharing arrangements or that additional professional guidance would be helpful.
Connecting these parts of the research process can make Medicare information more useful without replacing official plan documents or qualified professional assistance.
What Comes Next for MedicarePlans.com
Our existing state, county, and plan directories provide the foundation for this work.
The expanded medical cost comparisons, prescription research tools, and local professional discovery features are in various stages of development.
We’re building these capabilities as MedicarePlans.com continues expanding its independent publishing platform beyond the 2027 Medicare plan year.
Our guiding principle is straightforward:
Medicare beneficiaries don’t need more complicated technology. They need clearer information, useful comparisons, and a better way to understand the options available where they live.
That’s what we’re working to build.
MedicarePlans.com is an independent Medicare information publisher. Plan availability, benefits, costs, and coverage rules may vary by location, plan, and individual circumstances. Beneficiaries should review official plan materials and consult Medicare or qualified professionals when making enrollment decisions.
David Bynon
1800 Club House Drive #93
Bullhead City
Arizona
86442
United States
