Enrollment Timelines & Requirements

Enrollment Timelines and Requirements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sets certain times during the year when you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plan.

Timelines and Requirements

Annual Enrollment Period From October 15 to December 7, you can enroll in Medicare Advantage or a stand-alone prescription drug plan, or you can switch plans. If you enroll during this period, your coverage begins January 1 of the following year.

Initial Enrollment Period You have a seven-month initial enrollment period to enroll in Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage or a prescription drug plan. It starts three months before the month you turn 65, includes the month of your 65th birthday and ends three months after the month you turn 65.

• If you enroll one to three months before your 65th birthday, your coverage begins the first day of the month you turn 65. • If you enroll during your birth month, your coverage begins the first day of the following month. • If you enroll one to three months after the month you turn 65, your coverage begins the first day of the month after you enroll.

Open Enrollment Period From January 1 to March 31, you can switch to Original Medicare and/or join a stand-alone prescription drug plan. Special Enrollment Period You can enroll in a new plan or change your plan in certain situations. Examples include:

• Permanent address change. • Loss of coverage due to employment change. • Becoming eligible for a low-income subsidy.

Contact us for other situations that qualify.

To be eligible for our plan, you must:

• Have Medicare Parts A and B and live in the service area. • Continue to pay your Medicare Part B premium if not otherwise paid for by Social Security or another third party.

Enrollment in a plan will automatically disenroll you from any other Medicare Advantage plan. But it won’t automatically disenroll you from a Medicare Supplement plan. You must contact that plan to disenroll.