What is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period?
It’s a specific window of time, October 15 to December 7 of every year, when people with Medicare can change their health plans and/or their prescription drug coverage. Changes made within the Open Enrollment Period will go into effect on January 1 of the following year.
During this period you can switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, or vice versa. You can also switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, as well as from one prescription drug plan (part D) to a different one.
If your plans are still working well for you, you may not want to or need to make changes. In this case, you don’t have to take any action.
But if your medication and/or health needs have changed, a different plan may make more sense. What’s more, the benefits of the plans themselves can change from year to year, so your coverage may be different than you think.
Medicare can be complicated. There are many nuances to understand, and the regulations change frequently. And if you miss an important deadline you could end up paying a penalty.
Instead of getting coverage that’s not right for you or overpriced, we recommend you educate yourself with information from a trusted source.
At Mintco Financial we focus on our clients’ entire financial lives, including your health coverage. If you’d like to ask us about Medicare, or other health-related financial issues, please get in touch. In addition to answering your questions we can also steer you to helpful resources for accurate information.
Call us at 813-964-7100 or email Lloyd at info@mintcofinancial.com