1 January to 31 March
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment
The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs from 1 January to 31 March each year. It exists so that someone who has started the year in a Medicare Advantage plan and finds it is not working for them is not stuck with it until the following January.
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Who can use this window
- You are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan on 1 January.
- You want to make a change to that coverage between 1 January and 31 March.
- You have not already used this window in the same year, it allows one change.
What you can do
- Switch from your Medicare Advantage plan to a different Medicare Advantage plan.
- Leave your Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare.
- Join a standalone Part D prescription drug plan when you return to Original Medicare.
What this window does not allow
- Joining Medicare Advantage from Original Medicare
- If you were in Original Medicare on 1 January, this window is not open to you. Joining a Medicare Advantage plan generally waits for the Annual Enrollment Period, unless a Special Enrollment Period applies.
- Adding Part D while staying in Original Medicare
- You can pick up a standalone drug plan on the way out of a Medicare Advantage plan. If you were already in Original Medicare, this window does not let you add one.
- More than one change
- This window allows a single change. Once it is made, the next opportunity is generally the Annual Enrollment Period, unless a Special Enrollment Period applies.
- Buying a Medigap policy without underwriting
- Leaving a Medicare Advantage plan during this window does not by itself create a guaranteed issue right to buy a Medicare Supplement policy. Whether one applies depends on your circumstances and is worth checking before you make the change.
How this differs from the Annual Enrollment Period
Both are sometimes called open enrollment, which is where most of the confusion comes from. They are separate windows with different rules.
The Annual Enrollment Period runs 15 October to 7 December, is open to everyone with Medicare, and changes take effect on 1 January. This window runs 1 January to 31 March, is only open to people already in a Medicare Advantage plan, and allows one change.
A change made during this window generally takes effect on the first day of the month after the plan receives your request, rather than waiting until the following January.