The Data Desk

The client handbook.

How we work, what you get and what we won't do, before you spend a dollar.

Send the desk a question Try the free county lookup

Who this is for.

People who need a clear Medicare Advantage answer once, fast, without a new subscription.

Agents, agencies and FMOs You need to know which plans are leaving your counties and where members will need a new plan, before open enrollment ends Dec 7.
Regional plans and their brokers You need competitor plan counts and member share in your service area, without hiring an analyst.
Health tech teams selling into Medicare Advantage You need a market size an investor can check line by line.
Investors and analysts You need to test what a company says about its members against what CMS shows.
Consultants You need clean county files to drop into a client deck.
Reporters You need one correct number with a source, today. The free lookup is built for you.

The files are free. The answer takes work.

CMS posts every plan and every county's members each month. Getting from the zip files to one plain answer is the hard part.

Big files, many joinsThe Texas 2027 plan file alone has 9,363 county plan rows. Members sit in a separate monthly file.
Names that don't matchCMS lists parents, contracts and plans apart. We roll them up to the company you know.
Hidden small countsCounts of 10 or fewer are blanked. We flag every one.

How a project works.

Six steps, all by email. You always know the price and the date before we start.

Write to usSend your question through the form on the Data Desk page or to [email protected]. One paragraph is enough. Tell us the states, the months and what you will use it for.
Get a scope and a fixed quoteWithin 2 business days we reply with what we will answer, which public files we will use, what you get, the delivery date and one fixed price. No call needed.
Approve and paySay yes by email. We send an invoice by email with a secure card or bank link. Work starts when it is paid.
We build and checkOur scripts pull the CMS and SEC files. A person checks every total against the raw file before anything ships.
Delivery by emailFiles arrive by the date in your scope: workbook, CSVs, chart cards and a short note, each number tied to its file.
One round of changesTell us what to fix within 10 business days. One round of changes inside the agreed scope is included.

What you get, and when.

Every turnaround starts the day you approve the scope. Sample pages are built from real public files.

Ready in 2 business days

AEP 2027 County Kit

Know which plans end in your counties, how many members they hold, and what is still sold, before Dec 7

A Start here page
Every ending plan by county, with members
A crosswalk sheet: where each county’s members land for 2027
Every 2027 plan still sold, with $0 premium count and MOOP
Insurer share and a Check sheet
Spanish summary, Star Shift sheet and 4 chart cards

Ready in 2 business days, any month

County Market Report

See one state’s Medicare Advantage market move, by county and insurer, from the latest CMS file

Members gained and lost by county and insurer
Insurer share
Stars and plan counts by county
A Check sheet

See a sample page

Ready in 2 business days

Kit for FMOs

One file for every county your agents sell in, to share with each agent

The full state kit
The right to share it inside your agency

Ready in 1 business day

County Sheet

Test us on one county before you buy a kit

One county, ending plans and what is left
The price counts toward a kit within 14 days

Ready in 5 business days

Claim Check

Know if a company’s member claim holds up in CMS files

A short verdict memo with the numbers
The method and limits
A chart card and the tables behind it

See a sample page

Ready in 3 business days after each CMS monthly release

Company Tracker

Follow one insurer every month without pulling CMS files

Members, plans and counties
Star changes when CMS posts ratings
The SEC member count next to the CMS count

Ready in 5 business days

Business Question Brief

Bring one question and get a sourced answer from public CMS and SEC files

A memo of two to four pages
A spreadsheet with the tables
A Check sheet
A Spanish summary on request

Ready in 3 business days after each CMS monthly release

Agent Desk

Your counties every month, with your AEP kit and crosswalk sheet in October

A report on up to 10 counties every month
The AEP County Kit for those counties in October, with the crosswalk sheet
A February landing report

Ready in 3 business days after each CMS monthly release

State Desk

See one state’s market move every month, with your AEP kit in October

The County Market Report every month
The AEP County Kit in October
A February landing report
One short question a month

See a sample page

Ready in 3 business days after each CMS monthly release

Group plan

Three states and one insurer, every month, for your whole team

Up to 3 state reports every month
One Company Tracker
October kits with the share license
Two briefs a month

Ready in 3 business days after each CMS monthly release

Enterprise plan

The national market, three insurers and your questions, every month

All state reports every month
Up to 3 Company Trackers
One Claim Check a quarter
One full brief and two short questions a month

Ready in 5 to 10 business days, set in the scope

Custom question

An answer you can source, without hiring an analyst

Tables, charts and a short memo with every source
No charge if the files can’t answer it

See a sample page

Sources and how we check.

Public files only. Every number in a delivery names its file and month.

CMS plan filesThe yearly plan file for each contract year, for plan counts, $0 premium and special needs plans by county.
CMS enrollment filesMonthly enrollment by contract, plan, state and county, and the monthly plan report, for members.
SEC filings and company releases10-Q, 10-K, 8-K and earnings releases on EDGAR, for what companies say.
The checkScripts build the tables. A person recounts the totals from the raw file. Example: UnitedHealth said it lost 935,000 members. CMS files show 950,503 fewer from December 2025 to September 2026.

What we don't do.

Saying no early saves you time.

No advice. Not medical, legal, tax or investment advice. We report what the files show.
No private data. No inside information, no data that isn't public, no member records.
No staff time on site. No analyst days, standing teams or on site work.
No live feeds yet. We send files, not an API.
No guesses. If the public files can't answer it, we tell you.

Your data.

We only need your question and your email.

Don't send us member, patient or health records. We don't need them and won't take them.
Your question and files stay between us. We never mix one client's work into another's.
We publish nothing about your job without your written okay.
Payment runs through a secure invoice link. We never see or store card numbers.

Questions.

How much does it cost? Each job has one fixed price, set before work starts. Send a question and we send the price with the scope.
Do I need a call? No. Everything works by email. If you want a short call, ask.
Can I put your numbers in my own deck or report? Yes. Use them with credit to Health and Tech Now.
Will you publish my question or results? No. Nothing about your job is published without your written okay.
What if CMS hides a number? CMS hides counts of 10 or fewer. We mark each one, so totals never pretend to be exact.
What if a new CMS file lands mid job? We tell you and use the file named in your scope, unless you ask to switch.
Is this investment or medical advice? No. We report what the public files show. Decisions are yours.
How fast do you reply? Within 2 business days.
What is your guarantee? On time or free: miss the date in your quote and you pay nothing. Number match: if a number does not match the CMS file we cite, we fix it within 1 business day and refund the full price.
Do you tell me who to call? No. CMS files carry no member names. The kit shows where the ending plans are and how many members each holds.
Can I show the cards to clients? The cards carry county totals only, with no plan names. Your own marketing rules still apply, and we do not review your marketing.
How do you check the numbers? We check every number against the CMS file we cite. The Check sheet lists each file, its date and its row count, so you can check it too.
What is the difference between the kit and the County Market Report? The County Market Report runs in any month on the latest CMS enrollment file. The AEP 2027 County Kit is its open enrollment version. It adds the plans that end and what is still sold for 2027.
What is the difference between a brief and a custom question? A brief answers one question from the files our scripts already read, in 5 business days. A custom question is bigger and gets its own scope.
Can I cancel a monthly plan? Yes, after the minimum term. Enterprise gives 30 days notice. Annual plans get two months free.
When should I order? Open enrollment closes Dec 7. Order by Nov 30 and your kit arrives before it closes.

Start

Send one paragraph.

Tell us the question, the states and the months. You get a scope and a fixed price within 2 business days. Or write to [email protected].

Send the desk a question