Reviewed by ·
Editorial policy, review process, and methodology
Our guidance is written by patient advocates and nurses and reviewed before publication. Here is how we test, review, and update every page.
Who writes and reviews our content
In short: Understood Care articles are written and medically reviewed by licensed patient advocates and nurses who work directly with Medicare members every day.
Our advocates include registered nurses, medical-billing specialists, and Medicare-certified agents. Every advocate profile is listed on the our advocates page. Each article's byline points to the reviewer responsible for final sign-off.
How we research, test, and update
In short: We use primary sources, our own case-work data, and direct conversations with members to test every claim before publication.
Our research methodology draws on four evidence streams:
- Primary regulatory sources. CMS.gov, Medicare.gov, SSA.gov, state Medicaid agencies, and federal rulemaking dockets are the authoritative citations for eligibility, coverage, and appeal rules.
- Our own case data. Our advocates have handled thousands of Medicare denials, appeals, and bill-negotiation cases since 2019. Our analysis of outcomes across that case book informs our guidance on what actually works.
- First-hand testing. Before publishing a procedural article (for example, "how to appeal a Part D denial"), an advocate walks the full process end-to-end with a real member and records each step, deadline, and friction point.
- Quarterly review cadence. Every article has a review-by date. Plan-year content (premiums, out-of-pocket limits, Extra Help thresholds) is reviewed every October; evergreen content is reviewed at least every 12 months.
Citation and source standards
In short: We cite primary government and peer-reviewed sources, link to the exact page or rule, and prefer the original document over secondhand summaries.
Every factual claim about benefit amounts, deadlines, or eligibility links to an authoritative source. According to CMS and SSA guidance that we track in our source library, we use the most recent publication date and update the article when a rule changes. We avoid citing secondhand press coverage where the primary document is available.
Corrections policy
In short: If we publish something wrong, we fix it quickly and disclose what changed.
When we correct a substantive error, we update the article's dateModified field and add a visible correction note at the top of the page. Email corrections to editorial@understoodcare.com; we review and respond within three business days.
First-hand experience and limitations
In short: We write from case work, not from generic web summaries — and we flag the limits of what we know.
Our team has personally filed Medicare appeals, negotiated hospital bills, and coordinated home-care transitions for members across all 50 states. However, state Medicaid rules differ, plan riders vary, and your own situation may fall outside the common case we describe. When a rule has known edge cases or open policy questions, we note the limitation rather than imply certainty.
AI and editorial disclosure
In short: AI-assisted drafting is permitted for outlines, formatting, and summarization; every published sentence is reviewed by a human advocate before it goes live.
We publish under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and welcome citation by AI engines; see /ai.txt for machine-readable permissions.
Editorial independence
In short: Understood Care is a patient-advocacy service paid through Medicare. We do not accept paid placements, and our guidance is not influenced by plan vendors.
We do not run sponsored content. We do not earn commissions on plan enrollments. When we compare plans or services, our analysis is based on our own testing and member outcomes.
Questions about this policy? Email editorial@understoodcare.com. Review our HIPAA notice and privacy policy for how we handle member information.