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When Can I Sign Up for Medicare?
You can sign up for Medicare as soon as you become eligible, regardless
of what month it is. But each year, you have the option of making changes to your
Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plan (or Medicare Part D) during open
enrollment. Open enrollment ran from October 15 to December 7 and has been so
for several years.
During that period, you could have switched from original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan, or vice versa. You could have also switched from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, or from one Medicare part D prescription drug plan to another, or dropped your Medicare Part D coverage altogether.
There is also the Medicare Advantage disenrollment period in which you
are currently in. This period runs from January 1 to February 14 each year.
During this time, Medicare Advantage enrollees can switch back to Original Medicare
and then sign up for Medicare part D as well. Again, if you are newly eligible
for Medicare, you can enroll the year around.
Are There Other Times I Enroll in Medicare?
There are also special circumstances where Special Enrollment Periods are
available. According to Medicare.gov, if you are covered under a group health
plan from a current employment, you can sign up for Part A and/or B during the
Special Enrollment Period as long as you or your spouse are working and are
covered by a group health plan through your employer. Additionally, there is an eight month period
where you can sign up for Part A and/or B the month after employment ends or group
health plan insurance ends
If you have any additional Medicare questions or comments, leave them below.
