Medicare Fall Open Enrollment
Every year from October 15th until December 7th, also known as the Annual Medicare Open Enrollment, a Medicare beneficiary is permitted to add, change, or cancel a Medicare health plan. You can also change their Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for the following year. The changes that they make will take effect on January 1st of the following year.
If you like your current Medicare health option or you do like your current Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, you won’t need to do anything. However, things can change with your current plan. You may want to compare your current plan options to make sure nothing has changed significantly. If there is a change that does seem significant to you, this will be a good time to explore your Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan options.
Medicare Fall Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage
There are certain times of year that you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. You may currently be on a Medicare Advantage Plan, and want to go onto Medicare Supplement Plan.
Here is a list of some of the other things you’ll be able to do during this enrollment period:
- You can go from a Medicare Advantage Plan and go back on to Original Medicare.
- You can change from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
- Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan that does not have prescription drug coverage to a plan that does and vice versa.
Open enrollment for Medicare Prescription Drug Plans
One thing to do every year is to check your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan and see whether it will still be the best plan for you come the following year. You will want to go to Medicare.gov and enter your prescription drugs into their plan comparative. You want to enter your medication, dose, frequency, and which pharmacy you like to use. Based on this information, Medicare will tell you which Medicare Prescription Drug Plan will have the least estimated out of pocket annual expense. It can pay to see how your existing plan stacks up. Many companies change the medication tiers. Availability of medications c an change year to year so it pays to review them.
What happens if I miss the Fall Medicare Open Enrollment?
If you happen to miss the Open enrollment and are not satisfied with your Medicare Advantage plan, you can dis-enroll from that plan during the Medicare Annual Dis-enrollment Period. The dis-enrollment period runs from January 1st to February 14th of every year. This is the time when you can dis-enroll form a Medicare Advantage Plan. In addition, you will have the opportunity to enroll into a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
In some scenarios, you could qualify for a Special Election Period. At this time you could make changes to your Medicare Advantage plan. This enrollment period is only for beneficiaries that are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. These scenarios usually involve loss of, or changes in coverage, such as a Medicare Advantage plan losing its contract with Medicare. Maybe you moved outside your current plan’s service area. In addition, some lower income individuals may qualify for Special Election Period.
For more information or if you have questions about the Medicare Open Enrollment, please give us a call at (267) 406-0344. You can also check out MyMedicareQuotes.com for more information.
Joe DeAngelis
07/31/2017
