Editorial Policy, Sources and Corrections

This page explains how a guide on Ask Margaret gets made, what counts as a source, and what to do if you find a mistake.

Who publishes this site

Ask Margaret is published by HTELLE LLC, a small company in Miami, Florida. The site, the videos and the free and paid guides are made by the same team. You can reach us at support@askmargaret.org or through the contact page.

How AI is used

Margaret, the host in our videos, is an AI host. Her face and voice are generated, and we say so on every page and in every video. AI tools help us draft, and a person at HTELLE LLC reads every guide and checks the numbers against the sources below before it is published. Margaret is not a financial adviser, an insurance agent or a government worker.

What counts as a source

  1. Official pages first. Social Security Administration (ssa.gov), Medicare and CMS (medicare.gov, cms.gov), the IRS (irs.gov), the Federal Register, state agencies and the provider's own page for a discount.
  2. Research groups and reputable news second. We use them for forecasts and estimates, such as the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, and only when no official number exists yet. These are always labeled as estimates, with the source named.
  3. Never: forums, unsourced lists, or figures we cannot trace to a page.

How we check a number

  • Every figure on a page links to its source in the Sources list at the bottom, with the date it applies to.
  • We keep "as of" dates next to figures. Rules and limits change, so check the date.
  • Projections and estimates are labeled as such. A projection is never shown as a final number.
  • Examples with round numbers are labeled as examples, not averages.
  • If an official page was unavailable to us and we could not confirm a figure another way, we say so or leave the figure out.
  • Calculators run in your browser. We do not store what you type.

How and when we update

Pages that depend on yearly numbers, such as the Social Security COLA, the Medicare Part B premium and Medicare Savings Program limits, are updated when the agency publishes the new figures. The "as of" date at the top of each page shows the last review.

Independence

We do not take money from Medicare plans or insurance agents. We do not sell Medicare plans or insurance and do not recommend a plan. Some links may pay us a commission, and some pages link to our own paid guides. When there is a free option, we show it first. See our disclosures.

Report a mistake

If you think a number is wrong, email support@askmargaret.org with the page and the official link you are looking at. We review corrections quickly and fix confirmed errors on the page, with a new date.

Ask Margaret is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of the Social Security Administration, Medicare, CMS, the IRS or any government agency. General education only, not financial, tax, legal or medical advice.