Medicare Annual Enrollment Period Plan Reviews
Once a year there is a window in which you can change direction. It runs from October 15 to December 7, it closes on time, and it does not reopen because you were busy.
What the Annual Enrollment Period is and when it runs
The Annual Enrollment Period, AEP, sometimes called Medicare open enrollment, runs from October 15 to December 7 each year. Changes made during it generally take effect January 1.
It is a fixed federal window. It applies to everyone with Medicare, regardless of when you first enrolled or how long you have had your current coverage.
What the program allows you to change during that window
During AEP, Medicare permits several types of change. In broad terms you can move between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan in either direction, change from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, and add, drop or switch prescription drug coverage.
What happens if you do nothing
In most cases your existing coverage simply continues into the next year. You are not dropped for inaction.
What is worth knowing is that plans are annual contracts. Terms can be different from one year to the next, and when they are, your carrier is required to notify you in writing each fall. That notice arrives before the window opens, which is deliberate, it exists so you have time to read it and decide whether anything needs your attention.
What Sue reviews with you
A review is a check, not a sales appointment. If your current coverage still fits, she will tell you so and you are done.
Your providers
Every doctor and facility you use, by name, checked against what is available to you for the coming year. Provider participation can change.
Your prescriptions
Each medication checked individually. Formularies can change between plan years, and this is where most surprises originate. More on Part D.
Your pharmacy
Where you actually fill prescriptions, and whether mail order is part of how you do it.
What changed for you
A new diagnosis, a new specialist, a move, more travel. Coverage that fit two years ago was fitted to a different set of facts.
Other windows: MA OEP and Special Enrollment Periods
AEP is the main one, but it is not the only one.
- Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs January 1 to March 31 for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. It permits a narrower set of changes than AEP.
- Special Enrollment Periods open outside the normal calendar when certain life events occur, moving, losing other coverage, and others defined by Medicare. Ask Sue if your situation qualifies.
Book earlier than you think you need to
Between October 15 and December 7, every licensed agent in Southwest Florida is doing this at once. The last two weeks of the window are the worst time to start a conversation that involves checking eight prescriptions against several plans.
September and early October are quiet. Same review, more time, no queue.
Common questions about AEP
Get on the calendar before October.
Bring your providers, your prescriptions and your carrier's notice. If nothing needs changing, Sue will say so.
Sue Kneeland Insurance is an independent, licensed insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.