Open Enrollment for Medicare Simplfied

Why should you care about Medicare Open Enrollment? Well for starters, there could be real money on the table, according to the National Council on Aging. But before we get to that, let’s review the basics.

To begin, what is Open Enrollment (otherwise known as the Annual Election Period or AEP)? Medicare Open Enrollment is a period which begins on October 15 every year and ends on December 7 every year. This is the time of the year when you can:

• Evaluate and/or change your Part D prescription drug benefits
• Evaluate or change your Medicare Advantage plan (Part C plan)
• Decide to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time
• Add or change a Medigap plan
• Decide to disenroll from a Medicare Advantage plan (this can also be done in January and early February but with fewer choices).

Read More of this article by the by Margie Johnson Ware, Aging and Health Specialist for the National Council on Aging.