If you’re 65 or older, these are critical months for your healthcare planning. Our newsroom is committed to providing the information you need to make the best possible choices.

Medicare’s annual “open enrollment” period runs between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. During that time, depending on your health, your wealth, and your location, you may be able to choose from among dozens of Medicare plans for 2023. Many Americans will choose a “Medicare Advantage” plan, which combines a wide range of care under a private insurance policy. Others may opt for traditional Medicare but choose a separate drug plan.

Either way, there’s much to consider. Monthly premiums. Annual deductibles. The maximum amount you may have to spend before an insurer covers all necessary bills, and the quality of care you’re likely to receive.

To help you decide, we’ve created the searchable databases below that allow you to scan relevant plans for your region and then explore the details. We offer this information for both Medicare Prescription Drug Plans and for standard Medicare Advantage plans. (If you have special needs or require a plan that is funded by Medicaid, you may want to check the main Medicare web site’s plan-selection tool.)

Medicare Prescription Drug Plans are offered state-wide. Just pick your state. Our introductory screen lets you sort or filter plans by premium costs, monthly deductibles, and overall ratings. Then you can click or tap “Search” to review benefits and performance ratings.

(Click or tap here if you can’t see the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans database.)

Medicare’s rating system runs from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. Some plans may show ratings of “0″. That generally means they are too new or too small for reliable scores.

Medicare Advantage plans are offered county by county, so choosing your state and your county are the first steps to finding a plan. Next, you can sort and filter by quality and monthly premium (above Medicare’s standard $164.90 per month). If you want to see only the highest-rating plans in your area, for instance, select “5 stars.” Click or tap “Search,” then choose the plans you want to know more about.

Within each plan, consider what means most to you, given your finances and your health. For instance, we grouped together toward the bottom of our plan reports a cluster of items that may matter greatly to diabetes patients.

It’s important to spend time exploring the details. Plans differ in what items or services are covered and in which healthcare costs will be passed along to you. They also show significant differences in performance, according to Medicare’s scoring system. We used a very simple display format, to try to make it easy to see those things at a glance.

(Click or tap here if you can’t see the Medicare Advantage Plans database.)

Other sites also can provide useful information. Medicare produces www.medicare.gov/plan-compare, which offers extremely detailed data on every Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. It lets users enter their prescription drugs to estimate future costs under each plan. Insurers’ websites are another resource, especially when seeking to learn which doctors and hospitals participate in a plan.

Choosing your best plan takes time and consideration. We don’t have all the answers. But our guides are a great place to start.