Healthcare can be a major expense for seniors. It can also be a major source of stress.
It's common for health issues to arise with age. And the more of those issues you encounter, the more of your limited senior income might need to be spent to address them.
That's why it's so important to choose the right health coverage. And if you're a Medicare enrollee, each fall, you have an opportunity to make changes to your coverage during the program's annual open enrollment period.
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You may have decided this past fall to move to a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time or switch to a new Medicare Advantage plan you've never used before. But what if that decision is one you now regret?
The good news is that you're not out of luck. But you'll need to act quickly if you want to make changes to your Medicare Advantage coverage.
There's still time to change Advantage plans
Fall open enrollment for Medicare is long behind us. But Medicare Advantage has its own open enrollment period that runs from Jan. 1 through March 31, and during that time, you have a couple of options. You can either switch from your current Medicare Advantage plan to a different one or drop Medicare Advantage completely and get health coverage through original Medicare.
There are some consequences to going the latter route. One thing about Medicare Advantage plans is that they cap enrollees' annual spending, which original Medicare does not. As such, it's often advisable to have supplemental insurance, or Medigap, when you're enrolling in original Medicare.
But if you're moving off of a Medicare Advantage plan and over to original Medicare, you might struggle to secure affordable supplemental insurance. That's an important factor to keep in mind.
Otherwise, you may want to consider ditching your current Medicare Advantage plan if:
- You're struggling to find in-network providers you're happy with.
- You're paying for supplemental benefits you aren't using.
- You're doing a lot more travel than expected and are spending a lot of time out of your plan's coverage area.
In any of these situations, you may find that a different Medicare Advantage plan or original Medicare is a better fit than your current plan.
Take action while you can
If you're far from in love with your Medicare Advantage plan, you don't need to resign yourself to being stuck with it for the remainder of 2024. But act quickly because beyond March 31, you will be stuck with your current coverage, generally speaking.
Of course, if you miss the boat in March to make changes to your coverage, you can always switch things up during the upcoming fall open enrollment period. But that's far from optimal if the costs associated with your current Medicare Advantage plan are hard to manage. At the very least, spend a little time between now and the end of March exploring your options and seeing if there might be a better fit.
