Every fall, Medicare beneficiaries are provided an opportunity to review and change their Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) or Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) during the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) from October 15 to December 7. It’s important for Medicare beneficiaries to remember that Prescription Drug Plan and Medicare Advantage Plan costs, benefits, covered prescriptions, preferred pharmacies and providers can change each year. Evaluating your options annually could help you find better coverage, and even save money.
There are always changes to the Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) and Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) available for the year ahead. Visit our What's New In Medicare page to learn more about some of the changes to Medicare.
List items for OEP Accordion
To better understand the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) and how to identify plan options that work best for you, click on the topics below:
The Medicare Open Enrollment Period (OEP) runs from October 15th to December 7th every year. During this time, people with Medicare can review Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D) and Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) offered in their area and switch to a new plan that meets their needs.
Any plan changes will go into effect on January 1st of the following year. These changes include switching between Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D), switching from traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan (or vice versa) or switching between Medicare Advantage plans. NOTE: If you switch from Medicare Advantage plan to traditional Medicare the OEP does not provide a guarantee that you will be accepted for coverage by a Medicare supplement (Medigap). You may be required to undergo health underwriting before you can join a Medicare supplement plan.
The choices you make during the OEP could save—or cost—you hundreds of dollars out of pocket and even impact your health. Read more below about things you should do during Open Enrollment to ensure you have the best coverage available to you for the new year.
Open all of your mail. This is how you will receive notices about your current plan benefits and how those benefits will be changing, including if your plan will is being cancelled.
Review your drug plan or Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare prescription drug and Advantage plans are annual contracts, so the plan you have this year will change. This means it may not be the best or lowest cost option for you next year.
Be careful who you talk to on the phone, especially if you were not the one to reach out to them. This is a time of year where you will be getting lots of calls from people about plans and benefits for next year. NEVER give your Medicare number out to someone who you don’t know or trust to make your healthcare decisions. Plans are not allowed to reach out to you over the phone or come to your home uninvited if you are not already enrolled in one of their plans.
Every September you will receive an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) from your current plan. If you don’t receive your ANOC by September 30, you should contact your plan right away to request it. The ANOC will tell you about any changes to your plan for the next year. When reviewing your ANOC, there are some key components you should review:
- Premium: What will the monthly premium be next year?
- Deductible: Is the amount you pay out of pocket before your plan covers your claims going to increase, decrease, or stay the same?
- Copayment/coinsurance: How will the amount you have to pay out-of-pocket for prescriptions and health care services (if you are in a Medicare Advantage plan) change?
- Drug coverage: Have your prescriptions been added or removed from your plan’s drug list? Have any been moved to a different tier, changing the price you can expect to pay? Are there any changes to the pharmacy network?
- Network: If you have Medicare Advantage are there any changes to which providers, facilities, and pharmacies are in your network?
- Other Changes: What other changes will there be to your benefits? For Medicare Advantage plans, they may choose to add or eliminate certain services to your covered benefits.
You could also receive information in the mail that the company selling your plan has chosen not to renew it and the plan will be canceled. See “How do I know if my plan was canceled?” below for more details about what to do if your plan was not renewed for next year.
There are many considerations when choosing a Medicare plan, so it is important to know what to look for and how to find objective sources of information and assistance. You can:
- Set up an account at Medicare.gov: Start with our video on creating an account at Medicare.gov. This will allow you to log in and access your Medicare information, including current prescriptions and plan information.
- Compare plans using the Medicare Plan Finder: You can use Medicare's Plan Finder tool to set up an account to input and store information such as your drug list, then compare plans available in your county. You can download our Tips to Run Your Own Medicare Comparison (330.15 KB) .pdf document for step-by-step instructions.
- Call 1-800-MEDICARE: You call Medicare directly for assistance at 1-800-633-4227. The Medicare Support Hotline is available 24/7, except for some federal holidays. TTY users should call 877-486-2048.
- Contact SHIIP: In Iowa, SHIIP uses trained volunteer counselors to offer trusted, unbiased Medicare counseling. You can find the phone number for local counselors on our website or call Iowa SHIIP at 1-800-351-4664. Contact information for SHIPs in other states is available by calling 1-877-839-2675 or visiting shiptacenter.org and clicking the button “Find Your Local SHIP.”
You will receive a notice in the mail, usually in the first few weeks of October. At the very top of the document, it will say something like “IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your Medicare plan won’t be offered in 2027.”
If your plan is canceled for next year, you will need to enroll in a new plan to make sure you don’t have any disruptions in coverage. If you submit an enrollment into a new drug or Medicare Advantage plan this year (depending on what plan you are trying to replace- or the coverage you want for next year), then that new plan will go into effect January 1st. But, if you wait and don’t enroll in a new plan, you will not have full Medicare coverage next year.
If you aren’t sure and want to check whether your plan was canceled, you can always call your current plan to verify. The number is on the back of your plan card. If you can not reach your plan you can contact MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227 or call SHIIP at or 1-800-351-4664. As always, anytime you talk with someone on the phone, document the date and time of the call, the name of person you talked to, and what they told you.