One of the nice things about Medicare is that once you sign up for coverage, you have the option to change it. In fact, every year, Medicare holds an open enrollment period that runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. During that time, existing enrollees can make changes to their plans.
You may, however, be reasonably happy with your Medicare coverage and decide not to participate in open enrollment. If you do nothing, you won't lose your existing coverage. That's yours to keep as long as you continue to pay your premiums. However, opting out of open enrollment could end up costing you big time in the new year.
Image source: Getty Images.
It pays to review your choices
During Medicare open enrollment, you have the option to:
- Switch from one Part D drug plan to another
- Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another
- Switch from original Medicare (Parts A and B plus Part D) to Medicare Advantage
- Switch from Medicare Advantage to original Medicare and sign up for a separate drug plan
You may be satisfied with the coverage you currently have under Medicare. But if you don't take the time to review alternative plans, you might end up spending more than you have to in 2024.
As a general rule, it's a good idea to explore other plan choices if the premiums on your Part D or Medicare Advantage plan are going up, or if another change is coming to your existing plan that impacts you in a negative way. But even if that's not happening and your plan isn't changing one bit, it can still pay to explore alternatives.
Let's say there's a Part D plan that groups a medication you take into a lower tier. That could result in lower copays every single month.
Or, it may be that there's a Medicare Advantage plan out there that offers comparable benefits to what you have access to now at a lower cost. Taking the time to explore your options could mean spending less on a major expense at a period of life when money might be tight.
Take action while you can
There's no rule stating that you have to participate in Medicare open enrollment. But at the very least, use Medicare's plan finder tool to get a list of plan options in your area so you can compare them. The tool works for Part D and Advantage plans, as well as Medigap policies if you need one.
The benefit of using this tool is that you'll get an overview of not just your costs under different plans, but also, the extent to which current plan enrollees are satisfied with their coverage. If you see a highly rated plan that seems comparable to yours, for example, it could pay to dig deeper.
You could easily opt out of Medicare open enrollment, stick with your current plan, and call it a day. But that's a move you might regret. So before you commit to your existing coverage, at least take the time to do a little bit of research and see what else is out there.
