What does Understood Care do?

Understood Care provides one-to-one patient advocacy for Medicare members and caregivers, including help with benefits, appointments, care coordination, medical bills, insurance questions, denials, and paperwork.

How can a patient advocate help with Maryland Medicare Statistics by County?

Understood Care advocates help with maryland medicare statistics by county by explaining options, organizing paperwork, coordinating care, and helping families understand Medicare coverage and next steps.

Does Understood Care work with Medicare patients?

Yes. Understood Care focuses on Medicare patients and their families, with advocates who understand Medicare, Medicare Advantage, care coordination, coverage rules, billing issues, and appeal pathways.

Will I have a dedicated patient advocate?

Yes. This is Understood Care's first commitment: One Advocate, For Life. Every patient is matched at intake with one dedicated patient advocate and given that advocate's personal phone number, email, and text. Patients do not go into a call queue. The assignment is permanent: even after Understood Care has completed all tasks for a patient, they keep the same advocate. If a patient needs us again six months later, they will still have the same advocate.

How often will my Understood Care advocate communicate with me?

Understood Care follows a frequent-communication procedure with both active and follow-up patients. While the advocate is actively working on a patient's case, they communicate every 7 days by phone, text, or email with progress information. Once the patient has been helped with everything they needed, the case moves to a follow-up cadence: the advocate still checks in every month.

Does Understood Care use AI?

Yes. Understood Care is AI-supported. AI tools help every advocate surface programs, benefits, and services tied to where the patient lives, with the most up-to-date eligibility information. The result is that patients and advocates get the resources they need faster, while the human advocate stays in the loop on every patient's case.

Patient Advocacy Without the Call Center

Maryland Medicare, by the Numbers

The data layer behind our Maryland guide and all 60 city pages, in one place: CMS enrollment, Census demographics, and federal shortage designations, county by county.

Plans we accept in Maryland covering ~88.7% of Maryland's Medicare beneficiaries

Original Medicare
UnitedHealthcare ~26% of MA members
Humana ~20% of MA members
Aetna ~12% of MA members

Coverage data 2023. Plan networks change - we confirm exactly what your plan covers before any work begins.

Medicare guides for Maryland

State guide

Medicare Help in Maryland: Programs That Pay for Care (2026)

Find out which Maryland Medicare Savings Programs cover your premiums, deductibles, and cost-sharing in 2026 - including QMB income limits, the birthday rule, and how to apply through your local DSS office.

Read the guide

1,175,939Medicare beneficiaries statewide (2025)

25.3%chose Medicare Advantage plans

156,913dual-eligible for Medicare and Maryland Medical Assistance

263,213Marylanders 65+ live alone

243 minmedian ER visit statewide (CMS)

56federal primary-care shortage designations

Medicare Enrollment by County

Counties covered by our city pages (24 county-equivalents, 1,175,939 beneficiaries). Each links to its anchor city page.

County	Medicare beneficiaries	Medicare Advantage share	Dual-eligible	Residents 65+	Shortage designations
Montgomery County	194,919	23.2%	23,079	175,080	5
Baltimore County	172,866	26.2%	22,976	150,859	3
Prince George's County	152,516	32.3%	19,487	138,054	4
Anne Arundel County	107,973	20.6%	9,206	91,932	1
Baltimore city	103,071	37.3%	31,357	86,161	19
Howard County	57,628	20.3%	6,047	49,360	0
Harford County	55,933	24.8%	5,176	44,548	1
Frederick County	52,499	20.7%	4,772	42,039	2
Carroll County	37,730	20.3%	2,905	30,667	1
Washington County	33,887	25%	5,308	27,598	3
Charles County	28,788	25.8%	3,232	22,108	1
Wicomico County	21,933	26.4%	3,762	16,868	2
Cecil County	21,790	21.7%	2,720	17,411	2
St. Mary's County	19,820	18.1%	2,309	15,711	1
Calvert County	19,018	15.9%	1,615	14,914	1
Allegany County	17,350	17.8%	3,380	14,200	2
Worcester County	17,023	25.2%	1,639	15,019	1
Queen Anne's County	12,859	17.3%	883	10,311	1
Talbot County	12,314	15.6%	1,106	11,060	0
Dorchester County	8,939	25.6%	1,720	7,354	1
Garrett County	7,741	23.2%	1,152	6,790	2
Caroline County	7,464	23.1%	1,244	5,719	2
Kent County	6,414	17.4%	680	5,178	1
Somerset County	5,464	29.2%	1,161	4,278	1

Statewide, 25.3% of beneficiaries chose Medicare Advantage in 2025, a lower share than most states, so Medigap timing and Part B billing questions come up constantly. Counties above that line see more prior authorizations and more denials worth appealing. Maryland is one of a handful of states with a Medigap birthday rule: for the 30 days starting on your birthday each year, you can switch to a plan with equal or lesser benefits, from any insurer, with no medical underwriting (effective July 1, 2023), and the state also requires insurers that sell Plan A to people 65+ to offer it to under-65 disabled beneficiaries on a guaranteed-issue basis. About 9% of Maryland seniors live below the poverty line, the group most likely to qualify for unclaimed help: the SPDAP drug-premium subsidy, federal Extra Help, and the Medicare Savings Programs, which the Maryland Department of Health runs with income and asset limits. For the full rundown, sources included, see our Maryland patient advocacy hub.

The Numbers Are the Backdrop. The Help Is the Point.

One dedicated advocate for the bills, appeals, appointments, and paperwork, serving every Maryland county and Baltimore City virtually, usually at $0 with Medicare.

Get Started

Or start from your city: every Maryland city we serve.

From the Understood Care Blog

Chronic Care

Preventative Care

Learn preventive care you need from Medicare wellness visits to key screenings and vaccines. Understood Care advocates handle authorizations and scheduling.

Chronic Care

Hospital discharge with nowhere safe to recover: medical respite and housing next steps for Medicare patients

Medical respite options and housing next steps for Medicare patients discharged from hospital with nowhere safe to recover.

Money & Insurance

Help paying internet bill for telehealth access

Need tele-health? Learn Lifeline, low-cost plans, and backup visit options to afford internet.

Sources: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment (2025); US Census Bureau ACS 2023 5-year; CMS Care Compare Timely & Effective Care (median ER minutes, period ending 09/30/2025); HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designation file. Data retrieved 2026-08-20. Understood Care is an independent private advocacy service, not a government agency.