Medicare Enrollment
Medicare Annual Enrollment: A Simple Checklist Before December 7
Every fall, Medicare gives you a window to change your coverage for the year ahead. That window is the Annual Enrollment Period, and it runs from October 15 to December 7. Any change you make takes effect on January 1. If you do nothing, your current plan usually renews on its own, but the plan itself may not be the same plan you signed up for. This checklist walks you through the review we recommend for every client, whether you live here in Fort Lauderdale or anywhere in the 22 states where we are licensed.
Step 1: Read the letter your plan already sent you
Each fall, your plan mails an Annual Notice of Change. It is the thick envelope many people set aside unopened. That letter explains what is changing in your plan for the coming year: premiums, copays, deductibles, drug coverage, and provider networks. Read it before you look at anything else, because it tells you whether the plan you have is still the plan you chose.
Step 2: Make a list of your prescriptions
Write down every medication you take, including the dose and how often you take it. Then check that list against your plan for next year. Plans can move a drug to a different cost tier, add approval requirements, or drop a drug from the covered list entirely. Check your pharmacy too. A plan may change which pharmacies are preferred, and that can change what you pay at the counter. Bring your list to your review and we will check it line by line.
Step 3: Confirm your doctors are still in network
Provider networks change from year to year, including here in Broward County. A doctor who was in network this year may not be next year. If staying with your doctors matters to you, confirm each one, along with your hospital, before December 7. If you split your time between Florida and another state, tell us, because that affects which type of plan travels well with you.
Step 4: Look at the whole cost, not just the premium
A low premium can hide higher costs everywhere else. Add up the full picture: the monthly premium, the deductible, copays for doctor visits and prescriptions, and coinsurance for bigger care. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, find its yearly limit on out of pocket costs for covered services. Then think honestly about the care you expect next year, including any surgery or treatment you have been putting off.
Step 5: Note what changed in your health and your life
New diagnosis? New prescriptions? A move, a retirement, or a change in income? Life changes are the most common reason a plan that worked last year stops working. Annual Enrollment is your chance to match your coverage to your life as it is now, not as it was when you first enrolled.
When switching makes sense, and when staying does
A change usually makes sense when your plan dropped a drug you need, a trusted doctor left the network, your costs rose sharply, or your health changed. Staying put makes sense when your doctors, drugs, and costs all still line up. Either way, the decision should be a deliberate one. One more detail worth knowing: during Annual Enrollment you can change your mind more than once. The last enrollment you submit before the December 7 deadline is the one that takes effect on January 1.
If you want a second set of eyes on your checklist, call us at 754-223-9856 or request a free review. We will go through your letter, your drug list, and your doctors with you, in plain language, and tell you honestly if your current plan is still your best fit. There is no cost and no obligation.
Educational information only. This article is a general overview of the Annual Enrollment Period and does not describe every plan's rules. For complete information about your options, visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE.