Decision Tools

What are you trying to work through?

Use Decision Tools when you need to organize your facts, check a rule or deadline, calculate a cost, compare choices, or preserve what you learn.

You do not need to use every tool. Start with the task in front of you.

Start with the Self-Audit →Find the tool for your task

The Library explains the issue. These tools help you apply it.

How to use this page

The Library helps you understand what Medicare means. Decision Tools help you apply that understanding to your own dates, doctors, prescriptions, costs, coverage, and questions.

Choose the work in front of you

What do you need to do?

Decision Tools help you apply Medicare information to a specific task — organize your facts, check a rule or timing, estimate a cost, compare choices, or keep a record of the decision.

My taskI need to understand the decision before comparing anything.OrientSee the structure, timing, and major decision points before narrowing choices.Go to Orient tools My taskI need to confirm whether something applies or still works.CheckReview timing, coverage, rights, doctors, drugs, and plan details.Go to Check tools My taskI need actual numbers.CalculateEstimate income-related premiums, medical exposure, and other costs.Go to Calculate tools My taskI need to compare two choices on the same terms.CompareTest different Medicare paths, plans, or enrollment options against the same facts.Go to Compare tools My taskI need to gather and preserve the work.OrganizeCapture facts, questions, sources, tradeoffs, and conclusions in one place.Go to Organize tools My taskI need to stay current as Medicare changes.Stay InformedTrack rule changes, insurer records, and coverage gaps that affect your plan over time.Go to Stay Informed tools

Medicare plan checks

Check a plan before you trust the headline rating.

A plan may look strong in a brochure, an ad, a Medicare.gov listing, or a recommendation from an agent, broker, friend, or family member. These tools help you look beneath the overall Star Rating, review the measures connected to your needs, and identify what still needs to be confirmed before enrollment.

Free plan check

Medicare Plan Quality Check

Find a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan available in your area — or check one you’ve already been shown. See where its overall rating came from, which measures relate to your health and care needs, and what deserves another look.

✓ Review up to two plans separately
✓ See relevant CMS quality measures
✓ Leave with questions worth verifying

Check a plan free →

No Medicare number required.

Medicare plan decision check

Medicare Plan Decision Check

Check the plans you’re considering against the priorities you choose. Identify clinical, service, access, and cost questions worth confirming before enrollment, and leave with a written Decision Report of findings, what they mean, and next steps.

✓ Compare up to three plans against your criteria
✓ Catch what could affect your care — not just your premium
✓ Get a written Decision Report with what to verify

One-time $14.95$29.95 · pre-launch price · 30-day access

Start My Decision Check →

One-time purchase. No subscription required.

Free · understand a plan→Paid · decide between plans

The free check helps you understand a plan. The paid review helps you decide between plans.

Start with your own facts

Worksheet · do this first

The Self-Audit Worksheet

Use the Self-Audit when several parts of your situation are connected, when you keep repeating the same facts, or when you are not yet sure which narrower tool matters most.

It gathers your coverage, doctors, prescriptions, travel, timing, budget, concerns, and unanswered questions into one working record.

Open the Self-Audit →Free. No signup required to begin.

Every tool, grouped by the work it does

Choose the tool that matches the task.

Each group does one kind of work. Start anywhere — the tools read from the same facts.

OrientUnderstand the terrain

Use these tools when you need the structure, sequence, or major decision points before comparing options.

Medicare Decision MapA visual map of the Medicare decision — where you are, the paths, and what each one means.Open the Map The Medicare BlueprintA short quiz that turns your Self-Audit into a personalized roadmap — enrollment path, timing, and coverage direction.Start the Blueprint Fit CheckA few calm questions about your situation, then the door that currently matches it. Orientation, not advice. About five minutes.Start the Fit Check

CheckConfirm what applies or still works

Use these tools to review coverage, rights, timing, doctors, prescriptions, and plan details.

Medicare Plan Quality CheckLook beneath a plan’s overall Star Rating and review the CMS measures connected to your health and service needs.Check a plan free Enrollment WindowsSee every window that applies to you — when each opens, closes, and what it lets you do.Check your windows Know Your RightsA lookup for the specific rights that apply to your situation — guaranteed issue, protections, appeals, and windows.Look up your rights Annual Medicare Plan CheckupOnce a year, check what changed in your costs, doctors, prescriptions, coverage rules, and notices before your current plan renews.Start the Annual Checkup

CalculateTurn the issue into numbers

Estimate income-related premiums, annual exposure, and other costs specific to the decision.

IRMAA Income CheckerSee whether your income triggers a Medicare surcharge and what the thresholds are.Check your income Out-of-Pocket EstimatorEstimate your total out-of-pocket costs — premiums, deductibles, and limits — comparing Medicare Advantage and Medigap.Estimate your costs

CompareTest choices against the same facts

Compare structures, plans, enrollment paths, or coverage options consistently.

Medicare Plan Decision CheckCheck up to three plans against the doctors, medications, access needs, service expectations, and cost concerns that matter to your decision.See the Decision Check Medigap Plan ComparisonCompare Plan G, High-Deductible G, and Plan N side by side — premiums, tradeoffs, and which fits your situation.Compare plans Medigap TradeoffUnderstand the tradeoffs between Medigap plan levels — what you pay for, what you gain, what you give up.See the tradeoffs Part D GuideA guided walk through choosing or reviewing your Part D drug plan — enrollment, creditable coverage, and total yearly cost.Open the Part D Guide

OrganizeGather and preserve the work

Use worksheets and records to keep facts, questions, verification, tradeoffs, and conclusions together.

Medicare Decision WorksheetA structured worksheet to organize your situation, priorities, and questions before you talk to anyone. Printable.Open the worksheet

The Self-Audit is the record every tool reads from.Go to the Self-Audit →

Stay InformedMonitor what is changing

Some Medicare decisions do not happen once. These tools help you track changes that affect your coverage, your insurer, and your travel.

Primary resourceMedicare Changes Near YouStay informed about Medicare rule changes, benefit updates, and policy shifts affecting your state and the topics you follow. Filter by state, topic, or ZIP code.See Changes

Start with what is happening

Looking for a tool based on your situation?

Choose the event or decision closest to what is happening now.

Turning 65→Working past 65→Comparing Medicare Advantage and Medigap→Reviewing current coverage→A notice, denial, or change→Helping someone else→

Take it offline

Printable guides and worksheets

Use these when you want to write by hand, bring a copy to an appointment, or share the work with someone else.

The Medicare Blueprint — Printable

18 ppPrintable PDF

Organize the whole Medicare decision before you compare a single plan.

Print the Blueprint

Before You Choose Medigap

15 ppPrintable PDF

What to verify before buying, switching, or comparing Medicare Supplement coverage.

Print the Medigap guide

Drug Plan Starter Kit

17 ppPrintable PDF

Choose or review Medicare Part D coverage — enrollment, creditable coverage, and total yearly cost.

Print the Drug Plan Kit

When the tool is not the whole need

What would help next?

Need to understand the issue first?Go to The LibraryRead the rule, context, or explanation before applying it to your situation.

Browse The Library

Need help continuing the work?See The Program and FernContinue through questions, verification, tradeoffs, documentation, and future review with a record you can return to.

See how The Program works Meet Fern

The Program is optional. It is available when you want guided continuity.