To change Medicare plans you simply enroll in your newly-selected Medicare plan. Once your new enrollment is processed, Medicare will be
notified of your new plan selection and notify your existing
Medicare plan about your plan change.
Question: How to enroll into a Medicare plan?
You can
enroll into a Medicare Part D or
Medicare Advantage plan by: (1) calling a Medicare representative at
1-800-Medicare, (2) visiting the Medicare.gov website, (3) contacting a local
SHIP volunteer,
(4) working with a local insurance agent
representing your chosen plan, or (5) telephoning a Medicare plan Member
Services or Customer Services representative.
Question: When can you enroll into a new Medicare plan?
Generally speaking, you can only switch Medicare plans during the annual
Open Enrollment Period (
AEP or OEP) that runs each year from October 15th though December 7th.
You may also qualify for a
Special Enrollment Period (SEP) allowing you to switch Medicare plans outside of the OEP.
If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can also use the
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA-OEP)
to switch or drop your Medicare Advantage plan. The MA-OEP begins on
January 1st and continues through March 31st with changes to your
Medicare Advantage plan taking effect the first day of the month
following your plan change