Medicare Open Enrollment October 15 - December 7th

Each year, you can make changes to your Medicare Advantage or Medicare prescription drug coverage for the following year. There are 2 separate enrollment periods each year. 

See the chart below for specific dates:

During this enrollment period...	You can...
October 15–December 7 Medicare Open Enrollment Period (OEP) (Changes will take effect on January 1.)	■ Change from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan. ■ Change from a Medicare Advantage Plan back to Original Medicare. ■ Switch from one Medicare Advantage Plan to another Medicare Advantage Plan. ■ Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan that doesn’t offer drug coverage to a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers drug coverage. ■ Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers drug coverage to a Medicare Advantage Plan that doesn’t offer drug coverage. ■ Join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. ■ Switch from one Medicare Prescription Drug Plan to another Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.  ■ Drop your Medicare prescription drug coverage completely.
January 1–February 14 Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period	■ If you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can Medicare Advantage leave your plan and switch to Original Medicare. Your Original Medicare coverage will begin the first day of the following month. ■ If you switch to Original Medicare during this period, you’ll have until February 14 to also join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan to add drug coverage. Your prescription drug coverage will begin the first day of the month after the plan gets your enrollment form. Note: During this period, you can’t: ■ Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan. ■ Switch from one Medicare Advantage Plan to another. ■ Switch from one Medicare Prescription Drug Plan to another. ■ Join, switch, or drop a Medicare Medical Savings Account Plan.

Special Enrollment Periods 

You can make changes to your Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug coverage when certain events happen in your life, like if you move or you lose other insurance coverage. These chances to make changes are called Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) and are in addition to the regular enrollment periods that happen each year. Rules about when you can make changes and the type of changes you can make are different for each SEP. This list doesn’t include every situation.

For more information about OEP's, SEP's and the ABC's of Medicare, call MIM @ 1-800-762-4646.