Independence

The Health Almanac is editorially independent. No insurance carrier, Medicare Advantage plan, broker, agency or field marketing organization pays for coverage, reviews our drafts before publication, or has any influence over what we cover or how we cover it. We have no affiliation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or any federal or state agency. When a piece of writing is paid for, sponsored or part of an affiliate relationship, that disclosure appears at the top of the article in the same typeface as the byline — never in a footnote.

Sourcing

Claims of fact in our articles are tied to primary sources whenever possible — CMS rulemaking and guidance, KFF research, Medicare Rights Center casework data, state Department of Insurance market conduct exams, court dockets, peer-reviewed research, and direct statements from carriers we cover. Each article ends with a Sources & Further Reading block listing every external source cited.

Statistics that cannot be linked to a primary source are not used. Industry averages and "member satisfaction" surveys published by carriers or brokers are not treated as independent data; they are labeled and attributed as marketing material.

News, analysis and opinion

Every article carries a section kicker that identifies what kind of piece it is: Primer for explainer journalism, Reviewsfor evaluative coverage of companies and products, Investigationsfor original reporting with named accountability, Analysis for interpretation of policy or markets, and Survey & Data for reader research. Opinion pieces are labeled as such and bylined by an individual contributor, not the Editorial Board.

Bylines and credentials

Every article carries a named human byline that links to a public contributor profile listing the writer's title, credentials and full bibliography. We do not publish anonymously and we do not use generic "staff" or "desk" bylines.

Where a piece touches on regulated activity — insurance licensure, licensed benefits counseling, tax treatment of Medicare-related expenses — the bylined writer either holds the relevant credential or the article quotes someone who does, named and on the record.

Reviews methodology

Carrier reviews use a documented scoring rubric that weights CMS Star Rating, prior-authorization denial rate, overturn-on-appeal rate, CMS Complaint Tracking Module data normalized per 1,000 enrolled lives, and state Department of Insurance market conduct findings. The full methodology, including the weights and primary sources, is published alongside each review issue.

Conflicts of interest

Contributors disclose any financial relationship with a company they write about — current or in the prior 24 months — and recuse themselves from coverage where that relationship would create a real or apparent conflict. The Editorial Board reviews disclosures quarterly.

What we are not

The Health Almanac publishes journalism. It is not medical advice, not legal advice, not tax advice, and not a substitute for a consultation with a licensed insurance professional, a certified SHIP counselor, or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Readers acting on information published here do so at their own discretion.

Corrections

Articles in our archive are permanent. We do not silently rewrite published work. When a piece needs to change, the change is logged as a tracked revision at the bottom of the article and aggregated in the public corrections feed. See the corrections policy for the four kinds of revisions we issue and how we decide between them.

Contact

To raise a factual concern, request a correction, or notify us of a conflict of interest, write to the Editorial Board. Substantive concerns are acknowledged within two business days and resolved on the public record.