Take-Home Notes, part three. Today is September 30, the day Medicare's mailing guide says people will have their notice from their current plan about next year. So the letter is open, the four words from yesterday are circled, and the natural question is the one Friday's workshop asks next: what can I do about it? The answer is a calendar slide with four colored blocks and a gray bar across one of them that says WE ARE HERE. It is my favorite piece of plain design in the whole show.
What are Medicare's windows, and which one is yours?
There are four on the slide. Your Initial Enrollment window is seven months around your 65th birthday month, and it is yours alone. Annual Enrollment, October 15 to December 7, is when you change your plan for next year, starting January 1. A second Open Enrollment runs January 1 to March 31, when Advantage members can make one change. And Special Enrollment covers life changes: you move, you lose coverage, you leave your employer plan. The presenters have one line here they are told to say loudly: if you are turning 65 or leaving an employer plan, you have your own window, and the enrollment period you see advertised on TV does not apply to you. Everyone else in the room is under the gray bar. If the names blur together, our earlier piece on every enrollment period, defined with sources sorts them out.
What can I change between October 15 and December 7?
Three things, and the slide numbers them. One, change your Part D drug plan. Two, change your Medicare Advantage plan. Three, switch between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, in either direction. Medicare's handbook, Medicare & You 2027, says it the same way: "You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare drug plan, or switch to Original Medicare." There are no health questions for any of those three. A change made in this window takes effect January 1, as long as the plan gets your request by December 7.
What if I am on a Medicare Supplement?
This is the line on the slide that makes people sit up. Your Supplement does not wait for October: you can apply to change it any month of the year. The catch is printed right under it, health questions may apply. Outside your first six months on Part B, a Supplement company can generally ask about your health before it accepts you or sets your price, and the handbook is direct about it: after that window, "you may not be able to buy a Medigap policy or it may cost more." Nevada adds a protection Arizona does not have, which our piece on the Medigap door explains. One more thing worth knowing: switching from an Advantage plan back to Original Medicare during Annual Enrollment is always allowed, but a Supplement to go with it is not always guaranteed.
What happens if I do nothing?
Usually, you keep your plan, and next year's version of it starts on its own. The handbook's words: "If you kept your existing coverage and your plan's costs or benefits changed, those changes also start" on January 1. That is fine if you have read the letter and like what it says. The one exception is a different letter: if yours says the plan will not be offered next year, doing nothing will not keep it, and our piece on the two letters explains the rights that come with it.
Do I get a second chance after January 1?
If you are in an Advantage plan, yes, one. From January 1 to March 31, the handbook says, "you can change to a different Medicare Advantage Plan or switch to Original Medicare (and join a separate Medicare drug plan)." Changes start the first day of the month after the plan gets your request. If you are on Original Medicare with a drug plan, that January window is not yours, which is one more reason to use the fall one.
Your take-home note
On your notes sheet, write My window: and fill it in. For most readers it is October 15 to December 7. Underneath, write the three changes from the slide, and next to each, yes or no: do I want to change my drug plan, my Advantage plan, or my path? If every answer is no after reading your letter, that is a decision too, and a good one to make on purpose. Questions before Friday? The advisors are at 602-281-3898.
Friday, October 2. Foothills Library, Glendale, 10:30 AM. Mustang Library, Scottsdale, 2:30 PM. No cost. Register at 123easymedicare.com/medicare-workshop or call (877) 220-1089.
Tomorrow in Take-Home Notes: Medicare.gov, live. On October 1, the plan search switches to 2027, and we walk through it screen by screen: doctors, drugs, and the little tooth icon that does not say what you think.
This event is presented by 123EasyMedicare, a brand of American Retirement Advisors, an independent, private organization. It is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Medicare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Social Security Administration, or any government agency. The libraries are not sponsors of, and are not affiliated with, this event. Educational only; not tax, legal, or insurance advice.
Continue the Series
Next: Medicare.gov, live: searching 2027 plans. Take-Home Notes, part four →Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. It is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise representative of Medicare or the federal Medicare program. American Retirement Advisors is not a government agency. For official Medicare information, visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).