The short version: read the site, use what’s useful, check any specific number or date against the official sources before you make a decision, and understand that nothing published here is a personal recommendation for your situation. That’s genuinely the deal — the rest of this page is the careful version of it.
What this site is
The Medicare Map is an independent educational publication about Medicare, written for people turning 65 and their families. The articles explain how the program works: the four Parts, the enrollment windows, the decisions most people face, and the things that trip them up. The Decision Map PDF is a worksheet of the questions we think everyone should answer before they enroll.
What this site isn’t
It isn’t personalized advice. We don’t know your health history, your doctors, your prescriptions, your income, your state, or your specific plan options. General education can get you most of the way; the last mile — applying it to your situation — is yours to walk, ideally with help from a free State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor or, if your situation is genuinely complex, a licensed agent you’ve vetted carefully.
It also isn’t a plan-comparison tool, a plan-recommendation engine, a quote system, or a referral service. We don’t accept referral fees, broker commissions, or finder’s fees for anything a reader chooses to enroll in after reading the site.
Accuracy and currency
We try hard to be accurate, but Medicare rules, premiums, deductibles, IRMAA brackets, and Part D specifics change every year — sometimes in the middle of the year — and we may not always catch every update the day it happens. For any figure that matters to a decision you’re about to make, verify it at Medicare.gov, by calling 1-800-MEDICARE, or with your SHIP counselor.
If you spot something that’s out of date or plainly wrong, email jesse@themedicaremap.com — we read every note and we correct published pieces when they need correcting.
Acceptable use
You’re welcome to read, print, share, and quote what’s published here, including emailing articles to family or posting excerpts on social media with attribution. You may not republish entire articles on a competing site, scrape the content for training a commercial product, or use The Medicare Map’s name or branding to imply an endorsement we haven’t given. If you’d like to license a piece for your agency’s client education — get in touch.
No warranty
The content on this site is provided “as is.” We don’t warrant that it’s complete, current on the minute, or error-free. Any decision you make after reading it is your decision. We’re not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential loss stemming from your use of this site — including, specifically, any outcome you experience from enrolling in a Medicare plan or choosing not to. That’s why we point at SHIP and Medicare.gov so often: they are authoritative, they are free, and they will talk to you about your specific situation in a way this site cannot.
Third-party links
We link to third-party resources when they’re useful — Medicare.gov, SHIP, specific KFF analyses, CMS publications. We don’t control those sites and we’re not responsible for their content, privacy practices, or availability. Their terms and policies govern your use of them.
Changes
We may update these terms as the site evolves. Material changes will be noted with a fresh “last updated” date. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any disputes will be resolved in the courts of the State of Florida.