Medicare Enrollment Periods

1. what is an enrollment period?

Medicare only allows people to sign up for coverage at certain times, which they call “enrollment periods”. Some enrollment periods happen each year at a certain time, and others are available to individuals in certain circumstances, regardless of the date. In this lesson, you’ll learn about all the enrollment periods, and how they work with the different parts of Medicare.

2. Initial Enrollment Period (IEP)

If you’re new to Medicare, you need to know about the Initial Enrollment Period (IEP). The initial enrollment period includes the three months before you become eligible for Medicare, the month you become eligible for Medicare, and the three months after.

Not everyone will be using their IEP. People who will be receiving their health insurance from their current employer can delay enrollment into certain parts of Medicare until they retire.

For everyone else - retirees and people who do not receive health insurance form their employer - the IEP is the one chance to enroll in Medicare on time and with no penalty. It’s best to get everything done as early as possible so that if any issues come up you have time to deal with them before the IEP ends.

The IEP begins three months before your Medicare eligibility month, but you can do your research and choose what coverage you want even before that so you are ready to go as soon as your IEP begins. During the first month of your IEP, make sure that you are enrolled in Original Medicare Parts A and B. Once that is set and you have received your Medicare card, you can sign up for additional coverage from a private Medicare plan. It’s best to sign up for additional coverage before your eligibility month so that it can go into effect at the same time as your Original Medicare coverage.

3. Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)

If you’re not new to Medicare, you have one chance every year to change plans or sign up for a new one. It’s called the annual enrollment period, or AEP. The AEP lasts from October 15th to December 7th every year, and it is available to anyone on medicare.

If you sign up for a new plan during AEP, your new coverage will begin on January 1st of the following year. If you sign up for multiple plans during AEP, the last application you submit will be the one that goes into effect.

4. Special Enrollment Period (SEP)

Sometimes people end up in a situation where they need new Medicare coverage right away. If this happens to you, Medicare won’t make you wait months for the next enrollment period. You just have to show that your situation meets the requirements for a Special Election Period (SEP), and you can enroll in a new Medicare plan at any time of year.

Let’s give a few examples:

• You’ve involuntarily lost prescription or medical  coverage through no fault of your own

• You change or drop your employer-sponsored coverage (retirement)

• You move out of your plan's service area

• You are enrolled in Medicaid, the Medicare Savings Program, or the Low-Income Subsidy Program.

This is not a complete list of SEP eligible situations. The important thing to know is that if you suddenly find yourself without coverage, you may be able to re-enroll using a SEP.

5. Medicare Open Enrollment Period (OEP)

As of 2019, you have a new enrollment period: the Medicare Open Enrollment Period (OEP). The OEP will last from January 1st to March 31st of each year.

During this time, anyone already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan has a one time opportunity to:

• Change from a Medicare Advantage Plan to another Medicare Advantage Plan

• Change from Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare

• Change from Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare and add a Part D Plan

This means that next year if you sign up for a plan during AEP, you have three months to test it out and make sure it’s a good one before you are locked in for the year. I think is is a great new rule, and could really lessen the anxiety many people feel about making a plan change during AEP.

Medicare Open Enrollment Period FAQ

Q: OEP and AEP sound pretty similar… is this just going to be another 3 months of AEP? I don’t think I can take another three months of Medicare commercials!

A: OEP rules are very similar to AEP rules, but there are two important distinctions:

1) The OEP is only available to people on Medicare Advantage plans, whereas AEP is open to all Medicare beneficiaries.

2) Insurance companies, agencies, and brokers like myself are not allowed to conduct any marketing related to the OEP. That means no calls, commercials, or mailers that encourage people to change plans using the OEP.

Just think of the OEP as your trial period. If you decide you don’t like your plan during that time, you can exchange it for something else.