Medicare Enrollment Periods: When You Can Sign Up or Switch

Your first window: the seven months around your 65th birthday

Your Initial Enrollment Period starts three months before the month you turn 65 and ends three months after that month. That makes seven months in total. Signing up inside this window is the simplest path, because you avoid both a gap in coverage and the late penalty.

Medicare coverage always starts on the first of a month. Medicare.gov lists when coverage starts for each month you could sign up, so check that list before you pick a month.

Still working at 65? You may have a separate eight-month window

If you or your spouse are still working and have job-based health coverage, you may qualify for an eight-month period to sign up for Part B after that coverage ends. Part B then starts the month after Social Security receives your completed forms. You also fill out an extra form that shows you had job-based coverage while you or your spouse were working.

Whether you can wait depends on the details of your employer coverage, so ask your benefits office before you delay Part B.

If you missed it: January 1 to March 31 each year

People who miss their first window can sign up between January 1 and March 31 each year. Medicare.gov calls this the General Enrollment Period. Your coverage starts the month after you sign up.

You might pay a monthly late enrollment penalty unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. The Part B penalty lasts as long as you have Part B, and it grows the longer you wait.

Changing plans: October 15 to December 7

Each fall you can join, drop or switch a Medicare Advantage plan, move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and join, drop or switch a Medicare drug plan if you have Original Medicare. Medicare.gov calls this the Open Enrollment Period. You may also hear it called the Annual Enrollment Period.

The plan must receive your request by December 7, and the new coverage starts January 1. Plan costs, drug lists and doctor networks can change from one year to the next, so a fall review is worth your time even when you like your current plan.

Already in Medicare Advantage? You get a second window

If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs from January 1 to March 31. During it you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan, or drop your plan and return to Original Medicare. If you return to Original Medicare, you can also join a separate Medicare drug plan.

The change starts the first of the month after the new plan gets your request.

Life changes that open a special window

Some situations give you a Special Enrollment Period outside the usual dates. Examples include moving to a new address, losing or changing your current coverage, getting Medicaid, and getting Extra Help with drug costs. The length of the window varies by situation, so confirm the details before you assume you qualify.

Where to get help with your dates

You do not have to work this out alone, and you do not have to rely on one source. In California, HICAP (the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, run by the California Department of Aging) gives free, confidential one-on-one Medicare counseling. You can reach it at 1-800-434-0222.

Earl Doucette also offers a free consultation at his walk-in office at 14315 Corporate Way Ste C in Moreno Valley, or by phone. He checks that your doctors and prescriptions stay covered before you enroll.