What to Know About the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP)
How and when do you make changes to your Medicare coverage? Depending on your Medicare plan, there are different time spans when you can make changes to your coverage. One of the times where you can make changes is the Annual Election Period (AEP). This period is where you can disenroll, change, or sign up for Medicare Plans. These plans include Medicare prescription drug and Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) plans.
If you want to sign up for a Medicare prescription drug coverage or a Medicare Advantage plan. Then you can sign up during the Open Enrollment Period which starts on October 15 and ends on December 7 every year. If you postponed signing up to one of these plans during your Initial Enrollment Period (when you first became eligible for Medicare). Then, generally, you can make these changes during the Annual Election Period (AEP). If you qualify for a Special Election Period (SEP), then it’s better to sign up through your SEP instead.
The changes you can make during the AEP
Below is what you are able to do during the AEP:
- Switch from one Medicare prescription drug plan to another
- Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another
- Withdraw out of a Medicare prescription drug coverage completely
- Sign up to a Part D prescription drug plan
- Switch from a Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare (Part A and Part B)
- Switch to a Medicare Advantage plan from Original Medicare (Part A and Part B)
Any changes that happen to your plan during the AEP will start January 1 of the next year.
Can you make changes after the Medicare AEP?
Let’s say you currently have a Medicare Advantage plan, but you want to make a change to Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). You will be able to make this change from January 1st to March 31st every year. This period of time is called the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (OEP).
Note that you will have until March 31st to enroll in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan if you change to Original Medicare during the OEP. This enrollment is optional but you could avoid paying a penalty for late enrollment if you sign up by March 31st when switching plans. After the plan receives your enrollment form, the coverage will begin the first day of the month.
During the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, you can apply to switch to any Medicare Plan that fits your needs.
If you want to change plans outside of the standard enrollment periods, then Medicare may approve it. They may approve these changes because of specific circumstances usually outside your control. For example, moving out of your plan’s service area. Below are other examples of these circumstances, but not limited to:
- Getting both Medicaid and Medicare benefits
- Medicare ending its contract with your plan, through Special Election Periods (SEPs).
- Relocating to, relocating from, or living in an institution such as a skilled nursing facility or a long-term care hospital
- Qualifying for Extra Help
Note that having a Medicare Part D premium may mean that you could pay a late-enrollment penalty for as long as you had the coverage. This could happen if the following is correct:
- When you’re first eligible, you postpone your enrollment in a Medicare prescription drug plan.
- For 63 or more consecutive days, you don’t have other creditable prescription drug coverage.
- You decide to enroll in a Medicare drug plan at a later date.