The short version: the only thing this site ever asks from you is your email address, and we only use it for three things — to send you the Decision Map, to send you the Sunday newsletter, and (if you bought the book and registered your copy) to email you when the next edition is published. We don’t sell it, we don’t share it with insurance carriers, and we don’t broker it to lead-generation companies. If you want out, one click unsubscribes you permanently.
What we collect
Your email address, if you give it to us by signing up for the Decision Map or the newsletter. That’s it. We don’t ask for your name, your phone number, your date of birth, your ZIP code, your current coverage, your doctors, your prescriptions, or any other information about your health or finances. The forms on this site have one field.
Our email provider may collect standard delivery metadata when we send you a message — whether the email was delivered, opened, or bounced. This is the normal operating data of any email list and we use it only to avoid sending mail to dead addresses.
What we don’t collect
We don’t run advertising pixels, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, or any other third-party retargeting script. We don’t fingerprint visitors. We don’t use chat widgets that phone home. If you visit the site without signing up, no one ever sees your email address.
Analytics — what we do measure
This site uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to count aggregate visits and understand which articles are being read. GA4 sets a small number of first-party cookies (typically _ga and _ga_*) and reports anonymized, aggregate session data — how many people visited a page, how they got there, and roughly where in the world they are. We don’t connect this data to your email address, your name, or any other identifier you give us. We don’t use it to retarget you with ads on other websites, because we don’t run ads. If you’d rather not be counted at all, browser-level “Do Not Track” settings, the official Google Analytics opt-out add-on, or any standard ad-blocker will block GA4 entirely. The site works the same whether you’re counted or not.
What we use your email for
Three things, all of which you explicitly opt in to when you sign up:
- Sending you the copy of the Decision Map PDF you requested.
- Sending you the Sunday newsletter, roughly one Medicare-related email per week.
- If you registered your book at themedicaremap.com/edition, emailing you a download link the day the next edition of Turning 65, No Agent Required publishes — typically each October, when CMS releases the new year’s figures.
That’s the complete list. Not surveys, not promotional cross-pitches, not sponsored messages from partners, not carrier marketing. If we ever add a new use for your email, we’ll tell you first and give you the chance to opt out before it happens.
What we will never do
We will never:
- Sell your email to any third party.
- Share your email with insurance carriers, Field Marketing Organizations (FMOs), or Medicare agents.
- Enter your email into a lead-distribution system, lead aggregator, or “Medicare quote request” pipeline.
- Call you. The Medicare Map is a reading-only publication; we don’t operate a sales floor or a call center, and no one on our side is authorized to phone you about your coverage.
Unsubscribing
Every email we send includes a one-click unsubscribe link at the bottom. Clicking it removes you from the list immediately. You don’t have to give a reason, fill out a survey, or confirm through a second page. If the unsubscribe link ever fails, emailing jesse@themedicaremap.com with the word “unsubscribe” achieves the same outcome — within one business day at the latest.
Your rights if you’re in California, the EU, or the UK
If you’re a resident of California (CCPA/CPRA), the European Union (GDPR), or the United Kingdom (UK GDPR), you have specific rights regarding the personal data we hold about you — including the right to access what we have, correct it, or delete it entirely. To exercise any of these rights, email jesse@themedicaremap.com and we’ll respond within 30 days. We will never sell, rent, or monetize your personal data in any form, so the “do not sell” right under CCPA is already the default state of your account.
Data retention
We keep your email address on file as long as you’re subscribed. When you unsubscribe, your address is moved to a suppression list — used only to make sure we don’t accidentally mail you again if you re-sign up by mistake. You can request full deletion (including the suppression record) at any time by emailing us.
Children
The Medicare Map is written for adults — specifically, people approaching 65 and their adult family members. We don’t direct the site at anyone under 18, and we don’t knowingly collect information from minors. If you believe a minor has signed up, email us and we’ll remove the record.
Changes to this policy
If we ever change how we handle your information, we’ll update this page and revise the “last updated” date at the top. For any material change — meaning anything that expands how your data is used — we’ll also email current subscribers before the change takes effect.
Contact
Questions about privacy, or a specific request about your data, go to jesse@themedicaremap.com. We read every email and we reply in person — not through a support bot.