Understanding enrollment periods

Initial Enrollment Period

Generally, when you turn 65. This is called your Initial Enrollment Period. It lasts for 7 months, starting 3 months before you turn 65, and ending 3 months after the month you turn 65.

Annual Enrollment Period

Each year between October 15th and December 7th, Medicare enrollees are eligible to have their current plans reviewed and make any necessary changes, those changes become effective on January 1st of the following year. This is called the Annual Election Period (AEP).

Open Enrollment Period

If you’re unhappy with your Medicare Advantage Plan(Medicare Part C), you have options! Each year, there’s a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 – March 31. During this time, if you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan and want to change your health plan, you can do one of these:

Switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage
Go back to Original Medicare and, if needed, also join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan

Special Enrollment Period

You can make changes to your Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug coverage when certain events happen in your life, like if you move or you lose other insurance coverage. These chances to make changes are called Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs). Rules about when you can make changes and the type of changes you can make are different for each SEP.