When researching Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, it's easy to get a bit overwhelmed. What is the best plan? When can you sign up? The list goes on. Let's start with when you can sign up; that's the period called open enrollment.
Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage is the first three months of each calendar year. Of note is that this enrollment period is different than Open Enrollment that applies to Medicare and the traditional health marketplace.
Open Enrollment is the time period when you can enroll in an insurance plan. For Medicare, that period of time is from October 15 through December 7 each year. However, because nothing to do with insurance is ever as tidy as we’d like it, Medicare Advantage Plans have a separate open enrollment period.
There is a separate enrollment period for Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period is from January 1 - March 31. During that time, you may switch Medicare Advantage plans or even return to Original Medicare. Of note, if you return to Original Medicare and want to change back to Medicare Advantage, you’ll be subject to medical underwriting. This has the potential of disqualifying you for the plan.
Don’t forget that in order to enroll in Medicare Advantage, you must have enrolled for Medicare.
Signing up for Medicare Advantage is as easy as enrolling with the plan you choose. How to choose a plan, however, can be the tricky part. You must reside in the area of coverage for that Medicare Advantage.
In 2022, Value Penguin ranked Aetna as the cheapest, Kaiser Permanente the best, and AARP with United Healthcare the most popular. But if one of those plans doesn’t serve your state of residence, you won’t be able to enroll. So if you like Kaiser Permanente, for example, but you live in Texas, that may be a non-starter.
We want to help take the confusion out of enrolling in a Medicare Advantage Plan. At Healthy Access, we take pride in consumer education and healthcare services to help ensure every person researching and enrolling in Medicare receives expert education, decision support, and trusted activation options. Are you ready for a free, no-obligation quote? We’re ready to serve you.
