Platform Features
Verd projects your year of healthcare costs from federal spending data — how people with your age and health profile actually use care — then simulates what you'd pay out of pocket under every plan you're eligible for, and ranks them by total real cost: premiums plus out-of-pocket.
Get started free→How It Works
You don't need to understand insurance to use Verd — that's the point. You tell us about your life; we do the math the industry does, and show you the answer in plain dollars.
A few minutes of plain-English questions: your age, household, income, the medications you take, and the care you expect this year. No insurance knowledge needed, and no account required for the initial analysis.
Verd analyzes federal healthcare data covering hundreds of thousands of real American households to understand what healthcare actually costs for people in situations like yours — not national averages, and not insurance-industry marketing numbers.
For every plan you're eligible for, we project what YOU would actually pay over the year — premiums, deductible, copays, prescriptions, everything — adjusted for how much financial risk you're comfortable with. Then we explain the recommendation in words anyone can understand.
Evidence Base
Every recommendation is grounded in peer-reviewed federal datasets — the same sources used by CBO, HHS, and academic health economists. We do not rely on self-reported surveys or proprietary insurance industry data.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Verd checks which of 12 program types you're eligible for — ACA Marketplace, FEHB, Medicare and Medicare Advantage (including Special Needs Plans), Medigap, Medicaid, employer-sponsored coverage, TRICARE, VA/CHAMPVA, and COBRA. Instead of filtering by premium alone, we rank every eligible plan by what it would really cost you over the year: the premium, plus what you'd pay out of pocket for the care and prescriptions you actually expect to use.
Most plan comparisons stop at the premium. That fails real life — the plan with the cheapest premium is often the most expensive year. Verd projects your year of care from federal records of what healthcare actually costs people with your age and health profile, then simulates what you'd pay out of pocket under each plan's real rules, so the ranking reflects your whole year, not the sticker price.
After your recommendation, Verd gives you one place to keep track of your coverage. The free dashboard shows where you stand against your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, keeps a record of your claims, and lays out your plan's details and benefits in plain language — so you always know what you've spent, what's covered, and what's left.
Medical bills contain errors more often than any other bill you receive — and denials go unappealed because the process is designed to exhaust you. With Verd Pro, upload a medical bill or EOB (Explanation of Benefits — the statement your insurer sends after a claim) and we flag math errors, duplicate charges, and surprise-billing issues. If a claim is denied, the Appeal Letter Helper turns the denial into a formal appeal letter and tracks every deadline on your appeal clock so you never lose by default.
Certain life events — getting married, having a baby, losing a job, moving, turning 26 and aging off a parent’s plan, becoming eligible for Medicare at 65 — open a special enrollment window that lets you change plans mid-year. The windows are short, and missing one can lock you into the wrong coverage for a year. Verd Pro's Life Events tool walks you through nine of these scenarios, tells you exactly what your options are, and shows your actual deadlines.
Family coverage rarely means one obvious answer. Everyone on one plan, kids on CHIP, a spouse on a Marketplace plan with a subsidy — the right split depends on your household's income, health, and what each employer offers. Verd analyzes your whole household together, so the recommendation reflects the family's real total cost rather than treating each person in isolation.
Insurance documents are written for lawyers, not patients. The Verd Assistant is an AI advisor that explains your specific plan in plain language — your deductible, your coinsurance (your percentage share of the bill), your prior authorization rules — and answers any healthcare or insurance question you have, any time. Upload your plan documents and it breaks them down in plain English. Because it is connected to your dashboard, it knows your deductible progress and projected spending, so answers come back with your actual dollar figures instead of generic guidance.
Comprehensive Coverage
Most comparison tools only handle ACA Marketplace plans. Verd analyzes every major federal and private insurance program — including Special Needs Plans and the assistance programs most tools ignore entirely — because the optimal coverage for a given individual may exist in any of them, and eligibility often spans multiple programs simultaneously.
Individual and family plans across Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers. We calculate your premium tax credit — the subsidy that lowers your monthly bill — and the extra Silver-plan discounts many households qualify for without knowing it, then weigh each tier against the care you expect to use.
The program covering federal employees, retirees, and eligible family members, with hundreds of plan options. We compare the leading FEHB plans on what they would really cost you for the year, so you are not choosing between brochures.
Original Medicare — Part A covers hospital stays, Part B covers doctor visits and outpatient care. We flag when higher income raises your Part B premium, warn about late-enrollment penalties, and show what Original Medicare leaves uncovered so you can weigh supplemental options.
All-in-one Medicare plans from private insurers that bundle hospital, medical, and usually drug coverage. We compare their yearly out-of-pocket caps and extras like dental, vision, and hearing — and check whether a Special Needs Plan fits people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Part D adds prescription drug coverage to Original Medicare; Medigap plans pick up costs Medicare leaves behind, like your share of hospital bills. We factor your actual prescription spending into the comparison and weigh Medigap options against Medicare Advantage alternatives.
Free or very low-cost coverage based on your income — Medicaid for adults, CHIP for children. Eligibility rules differ by state, so we check yours specifically. Especially important for families near the line between Medicaid and a subsidized Marketplace plan.
Coverage through your job — including high-deductible plans that come with a tax-free HSA. We account for what your employer pays toward the premium, and check the federal affordability rule that decides whether you could get a subsidized Marketplace plan instead.
Military health coverage including TRICARE Prime, Select, For Life, and Young Adult. Eligibility based on uniformed service status, retirement category, and dependent relationships. Cost comparison against civilian alternatives when dual eligibility exists.
VA enrollment priority groups for veterans and CHAMPVA coverage for eligible spouses and dependents. We model how VA care coordinates with Medicare, employer coverage, and Marketplace plans — and when carrying secondary coverage alongside VA care pays off.
Temporary continuation of employer group coverage for 18 or 36 months after qualifying events. We calculate the full unsubsidized premium cost and compare against ACA Marketplace plans with potential PTC eligibility — COBRA is often not the best option.
Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans for dual-eligible beneficiaries (D-SNP) and people with qualifying chronic conditions (C-SNP). We screen for eligibility, compare SNP benefit packages against standard MA and Original Medicare options, and flag care coordination benefits.
Medicare Savings Programs (QMB, SLMB, QI) that pay Part B premiums and cost sharing, Extra Help/LIS for Part D drug costs, and CHIP advisories for children in households near eligibility thresholds. These programs are chronically under-enrolled — we check every profile for them.
Clear Advantage
Insurance brokers earn commissions from the plans they sell. Manual research takes dozens of hours and still misses critical variables. Verd combines comprehensive federal data, honest cost math, and zero financial conflicts of interest.
| Dimension | Verd | Insurance Broker | Manual Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Sources | MEPS, CMS, IRS, USPSTF — hundreds of thousands of federal records | Carrier-provided rate sheets and personal experience | Healthcare.gov or individual carrier websites |
| Plan Coverage | ACA, FEHB, Medicare A/B/C/D, Medigap, SNPs, Medicaid, employer, TRICARE, VA/CHAMPVA, COBRA, plus MSP and Extra Help screening | Typically 1-2 programs; limited by carrier appointments | Whatever programs you know to search for |
| Cost Analysis | Simulates what you'd pay out of pocket under each plan's real rules, on top of premiums | Rough estimates based on premium and deductible | Premium comparison; OOP costs estimated or ignored |
| Rx Analysis | Your actual prescription spending counted in every plan's projected total; Pro adds medication-by-medication savings checks | Basic drug-coverage check if requested | Manual lookup per drug per plan |
| After You Enroll | Year-round Pro tools: bill and EOB checking, appeal letters with deadline tracking, visit cost estimates | Occasional check-ins, mainly at renewal time | You are on your own after enrolling |
| Subsidies & Taxes | Premium subsidies and HSA tax savings counted directly in your net cost | Generic HSA/FSA awareness; no modeling | Requires separate tax advisor |
| Time Required | Under 5 minutes | 1-3 appointments over 1-2 weeks | 10-40+ hours of research |
| Cost | Free recommendation; Verd Pro $19.99/month for year-round tools | Free to you — broker earns 3-8% commission from carrier | Free, but high opportunity cost |
| Bias | No carrier affiliations, no commissions, no conflicts | Commission-driven; limited to appointed carriers | Subject to plan marketing and anchoring effects |
And more
Every plan rendered in a consistent format: deductible, copays, coinsurance — your percentage share of the bill — and the yearly out-of-pocket cap. No more parsing 40-page plan brochures.
Adjust health assumptions — add a planned surgery, pregnancy, or new chronic condition — and instantly see re-ranked results. Each scenario re-runs the full simulation pipeline, not a simplified estimate.
A pre-appointment checklist: a word-for-word script to verify the provider is in your network, flags for services that need prior authorization, and an estimate of what the visit will cost you.
Expert-authored guides covering metal tier selection, HDHP vs. PPO tradeoffs, Medicare enrollment windows, and common costly mistakes. Written for clarity, not to push a particular plan type.
Separate profiles for each household member with individual health histories and prescription lists. The engine analyzes the household together, so the recommendation reflects your family's real total cost.
A mid-year verdict on whether your plan still fits your life — and when open enrollment comes, a shopping dossier built from your actual year of care, so you re-shop with evidence instead of guesswork.
Get a personalized, data-driven recommendation in under five minutes — completely free. When you want Verd working for you all year, Pro is $19.99/month.
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