Every year, people make changes to their Medicare coverage in an organized, streamlined process called the Open Enrollment. Medicare has various Open Enrollment Periods annually, in which people can elect to change or even cancel their Medicare plans. However, these Open Enrollment Periods are separate and distinct from each other. For this reason, it is important to be aware of their similarities and differences, especially if you are a Medicare Advantage enrollee hoping to alter your plan.
While Medicare’s standard annual open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, there is also a separate Medicare Advantage open enrollment period specifically for those already enrolled in Medicare Advantage, see here: https://www.hellahealth.com/blog/medicare/medicare-advantage-open-enrollment-period/
If you are enrolled in Original Medicare, your only option is to participate in the October 15 to December 7 open enrollment. During this time, you can change your plan or enroll in Medicare Advantage.
However, if you are an existing Medicare Advantage plan member and want to change your plan, you have multiple options. You can either change your plan during the original Medicare open enrollment period from October 15 to December 7, or you can change your plan during the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period from January 1 to March 31.
That said, the changes you can make as an existing Medicare Advantage enrollee differ slightly depending on whether you are using the October 15-December 7 or the January 1-March 31 Annual Open Enrollment Period.
During the Original Medicare Open enrollment from October 15 to December 7, as a Medicare Advantage recipient, you can:
–Change from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare
–Change from one Medicare Advantage plan to a different Medicare Advantage plan
–Drop your Medicare coverage
Any coverage changes you make during that period will take effect on January 1 of the next calendar year.
This is a slight difference from the options available to you during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 to March 31. During that period, you can:
— Change from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare
— Change from one Medicare Advantage plan to a different Medicare Advantage plan
Any coverage changes you make during that timeframe will take effect on the first day of the month after you have requested to change your plan. For example, if you request to change from one Medicare Advantage plan to another Medicare Advantage plan on January 5, that change will go into effect on February 1. Another unique feature of this period is that Medicare Advantage enrollees can only make a change once during this time.
One more plan-changing option is available to you if you are a Medicare Advantage recipient who enrolled in your Medicare Advantage plan during your Initial Enrollment Period after you turned 65 years old or developed a disability. Within the first 3 months you have Medicare, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or change back to Original Medicare. This is regardless of the time of year, and you can make this change outside the typical open enrollment period.
