Medicare Open Enrollment is Almost Here!
Open Enrollment begins October 15th, 2019 and Ends December 7th, 2019. After enrollment your coverage starts January 1st, 2020. During the Annual Open Enrollment Period (AEP) you can make changes to various aspects of your coverage!
Verify that your current plan is still your best option!
If you are already enrolled in a Medicare Part D Prescription Plan or a Medicare Advantage Plan and you don’t want to make changes to your coverage for the coming year, you do not need to do anything during open enrollment, assuming your current plan will continue to be available. If your plan is being discontinued and isn’t eligible for renewal, you will receive a non-renewal notice from your carrier prior to open enrollment. If you don’t, it means you can keep your plan without doing anything during open enrollment.
Even if you are confident that you want to keep your current coverage plan for the next year, it’s important to make sure you understand any changes made that may apply, and that you have double checked to make sure that your current plan is still the best option available! The plans available and what they cover can vary from one year to the next year, so even if you have now what was the best option to you last year, it’s important to verify that again before you lock yourself in for another year!
Each year, insurance companies make changes to Medicare plans that can affect the out-of-pocket costs for your monthly premiums, deductibles, drug costs, and health care provider networks and pharmacies. The stakes are higher than usual this year during Open Enrollment because there are new rules for drug coverage, changes for new enrollees in Medigap supplemental insurance plans, and new benefits available in all-inclusive Medicare Advantage Plans for 2020.
During Medicare Open Enrollment, clients can move from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, switch from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare, swap one Medicare Advantage plan for another or even choose a different Medicare prescription drug plan.