What happens if I miss the December 7 deadline?

In most cases, December 7 is the last day to change your Medicare coverage for next year, and your current plan usually continues. If your plan's contract isn't renewed, you have a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 to the last day of February of the following year, and you'll be put in Original Medicare if you don't join another Medicare Advantage Plan before your plan ends. If you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can still switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan or go back to Original Medicare between January 1 and March 31. Some people also qualify for a Special Enrollment Period because of a life event or a plan's star rating.

What should I do if I never got my Annual Notice of Change?

Medicare plans are expected to send the Plan Annual Notice of Change in September. If you haven't received it, contact your plan directly and ask for it. You need it to see which coverage and cost changes start in January.

I spend winters in another state. What should I check?

Before you join a plan, Medicare says to check whether it covers you in the other state where you live part of the year. Ask the plan how care works there, and check whether doctors and pharmacies in that area are in its network.

Medicare Open Enrollment Checklist: Step-by-Step Review

Q: Can I help my parent change their Medicare plan?

Yes, but if you want to speak with 1-800-MEDICARE for your parent, your parent must give permission first. They can do this with a Medicare Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form, sent by mail or completed online in their Medicare.gov account. Doing this before the fall review saves time.

Q: Where can I get free help comparing Medicare plans in Texas?

Texas's State Health Insurance Assistance Program is called the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). Texas Health and Human Services runs it with Area Agencies on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Centers in all 254 counties. Its counselors offer free, personalized help and aren't connected to any insurance company.

Your Medicare open enrollment checklist comes down to this: between October 15 and December 7, read what your plan is changing for next year, check your drugs, pharmacies, and doctors, compare your options, and then decide whether to switch. If you like your coverage after that review, you don't need to do anything, because it continues automatically. This guide walks through each step, explains how switching works, and covers what happens on January 1.

Key takeaways

Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7 every year. Costs, benefits, and providers can change each year, so it's worth a fresh look.
Start with your plan's Annual Notice of Change, which is expected in September.
Check every drug, pharmacy, and doctor against next year's plans in Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
The plan must receive your enrollment by December 7. Mailing it that day is not enough.
New coverage starts January 1. If you keep your plan, its changes also start January 1.

What is Medicare Open Enrollment, and what can you change?

Medicare Open Enrollment (Medicare.gov also calls it the Open Enrollment Period) is the yearly window to review your Medicare health or drug coverage. It runs from October 15 to December 7.

During this window you can:

Join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage Plan
Join, switch, or drop a Medicare drug plan
Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare
Keep your current coverage

If you review your options and decide to stay put, you don't have to call anyone or fill out anything. Your coverage continues on its own.

Your Medicare open enrollment checklist, step by step

Medicare suggests starting around October 1. Review the notices from your current plan first, then preview next year's plans at Medicare.gov/plan-compare. Here is the full checklist.

Gather your materials. Have your Medicare card, your plan's mailings, a list of every drug you take regularly with doses, your pharmacies, and your doctors.
Read your Annual Notice of Change. Note every change to coverage and costs for January.
Check your drugs. Enter all of your regular prescriptions in Plan Finder.
Check your pharmacies. Add your preferred pharmacies so the cost estimates match how you actually fill prescriptions.
Confirm your doctors. Search Plan Finder, then ask your doctors' offices directly if they're in network.
Compare plans side by side. Look at estimated total out-of-pocket costs, not just the monthly premium.
Review star ratings. See each plan's quality and customer service ratings.
Check other coverage. If you have employer or union coverage, talk to your benefits administrator first.
Enroll, or do nothing. Switch if a different plan fits better. Stay if your plan still works.
Confirm the change. If it doesn't show in your Medicare.gov account within 10 days, contact the plan.

Read the Annual Notice of Change

Medicare plans send a Plan Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) each fall. It's expected in September. It lists changes in coverage, costs, and more that take effect in January.

Don't assume your plan will look the same next year. If you didn't get your ANOC, contact your plan and ask for it.

Check your drugs and pharmacies

Medicare advises adding all the prescription drugs you take regularly in Plan Finder. That gives you the most accurate monthly and yearly cost estimate for each plan. Leaving out even one drug can make a plan look different from what you'll really pay.

Then add your preferred pharmacies so the estimates are customized to you. For a deeper walk-through, see how to compare Medicare Part D plans step by step.

Confirm your doctors directly

Plan Finder lets you search whether your doctors are in a plan's network. Medicare also says to ask your doctors and pharmacies themselves whether they're in network. A quick call to each office lets you confirm directly.

Also check that the plan covers the benefits you need. If you live in another state part of the year, check how the plan covers you there.

How do Medicare star ratings work?

Medicare rates plans from 1 to 5 stars, and Plan Finder shows quality and customer service ratings for each plan. Ratings are one useful piece of your comparison, alongside drugs, doctors, and costs.

Two rules tie star ratings to enrollment:

The 5-star Special Enrollment Period. If a Medicare Advantage Plan, Medicare drug plan, or Medicare Cost Plan with a 5-star rating is available in your area, you can use the 5-star Special Enrollment Period to switch to that 5-star plan. You can use it once between December 8 and November 30 of the following year.
The low-performing plan rule. If your plan has been rated below 3 stars for the last 3 years, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage or drug plan any time you're in that plan.

One caution: moving from a Medicare Advantage Plan with drug coverage to a 5-star plan without drug coverage may leave you without drug coverage until your next chance to enroll. It may also lead to a Part D late enrollment penalty. And if you move from a Medicare Advantage Plan with drug coverage to a stand-alone 5-star drug plan, you'll be disenrolled from your Medicare Advantage Plan and returned to Original Medicare for your health coverage.

How does switching Medicare plans work?

There are three ways to join a plan:

Select "Enroll" on Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
Contact the plan by phone, through its website, or with a paper form.
Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048).

December 7 is a receipt deadline

The plan must get your enrollment form by December 7. This is not a mail-by date. If you use a paper form, send it early enough that it arrives before the period ends.

Watch for a separate drug plan

If you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan, be careful about joining a separate drug plan. In some cases, a Medicare Advantage Plan can disenroll you if you join one. Ask before you sign up.

Confirm the change

After you make a change, check your Medicare.gov account. If the change doesn't appear within 10 days, contact the plan.

Open Enrollment vs. other Medicare enrollment periods

Open Enrollment isn't your only chance to change plans, but the other windows have limits.

Period	When	Who it's for	What you can change	When coverage starts
Open Enrollment	October 15 to December 7	Everyone with Medicare	Join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or drug plan; switch to Original Medicare; or keep your coverage	January 1
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period	January 1 to March 31, or within your first 3 months of having Medicare	Only people already in a Medicare Advantage Plan	Switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, or return to Original Medicare and join a separate drug plan	First of the month after the plan gets your request
Special Enrollment Periods	Triggered by certain events	People with qualifying events, such as moving, losing other coverage, getting Medicaid, or getting Extra Help	Depends on the event	Depends on the event

For more on life events, see our guide to Special Enrollment Periods and qualifying life events.

What happens on January 1?

If you switched to a new health or drug plan, your new coverage starts January 1. From then on, the new plan is the one you use for care and prescriptions.

If you kept your current plan, any changes to its benefits or costs also start January 1. That's why reading your ANOC matters even if you don't switch.

If you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan and realize after January 1 that it isn't working, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs through March 31.

What about Medigap during open enrollment?

Medigap follows its own rules, and Open Enrollment isn't a Medigap shopping window. In most cases, there's no federal right to switch Medigap policies outside your 6-month Medigap open enrollment period or a guaranteed issue situation.

Your state may give you more rights. Check with your State Insurance Department.

Think hard before dropping Medigap for a Medicare Advantage Plan. If you do, you may not be able to get the same Medigap policy back later. That depends on your state's Medigap rules and your situation.

There is one exception for new enrollees. If you joined a Medicare Advantage Plan when you were first eligible at 65, you have 12 months after first joining to drop it for Original Medicare. You then have special rights to buy a Medigap policy for a limited time. Our guide to Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap compares the two paths.

Special cases to check before you decide

You have Medicare and Medicaid, or get Extra Help

You can switch drug plans once a calendar month. You can also drop a Medicare Advantage Plan with drug coverage for Original Medicare plus a stand-alone drug plan. The change takes effect the first of the next month.

This doesn't apply if you've been flagged as "at-risk" under a Part D drug management program.

You're losing Extra Help next year

If you learn you won't qualify for Extra Help next year, you have 3 full months to change plans. The clock starts on the date you're no longer eligible or the date you're notified, whichever is later.

You have employer, union, or retiree coverage

Talk to your benefits administrator before joining a plan or making changes. Joining a Medicare Advantage Plan might cause you to lose your employer or union coverage. Your spouse and dependents could lose it too, and you may not be able to get it back.

Your plan is leaving or not renewing

Insurance companies decide each year whether to join or leave Medicare and which counties a plan serves. If your plan stops participating, you must join another Medicare health plan or return to Original Medicare.

If your Medicare Advantage, drug, or Cost Plan's contract isn't renewed, you get a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 to the last day of February of the following year. If you don't join another Medicare Advantage Plan before your plan ends, you'll be put in Original Medicare. Plan lineups vary by area, as our guide to Medicare Advantage plans by Texas county explains.

You're moving

Moving can qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period. The changes you can make and the timing depend on your situation.

How do costs fit into your review?

Medicare says to review each plan's premiums, deductibles, and estimated yearly drug costs.

A plan with a low premium can still cost more over a year if your drugs cost more under it. Plan Finder's estimates of total out-of-pocket costs help you compare the full picture.

These amounts change every year, so get current figures from Medicare.gov rather than older articles. If you've received a letter about higher premiums because of income, our guide on Medicare IRMAA explains it.

If your income and resources are limited, look into two programs:

Extra Help helps pay for Part D drug coverage. You can apply at SSA.gov/extrahelp.
Medicare Savings Programs can cover Part A and/or Part B premiums.

Income and resource limits change, so check Medicare.gov/basics/costs/help for current rules.

Common Medicare open enrollment mistakes

Assuming your plan stays the same. Costs, benefits, and providers can change. Read the ANOC every year.
Mailing a form at the last minute. The plan must receive it by December 7.
Relying on ads. Fall brings heavy mail and advertising. Medicare.gov, the "Medicare & You" handbook, and 1-800-MEDICARE are the official sources of unbiased information.
Skipping the employer check. A Medicare Advantage Plan could end employer or union coverage for you and your family.
Switching to a plan without drug coverage by mistake. You could go without drug coverage and face a Part D late enrollment penalty.
Joining a separate drug plan while in Medicare Advantage. In some cases, this can get you disenrolled from your Medicare Advantage Plan.
Dropping Medigap without a plan. You may not get the same policy back.

Is this the same as HealthCare.gov or employer open enrollment?

No. Medicare Open Enrollment covers only Medicare health and drug plans.

If your household has someone on Medicare and someone on a Marketplace plan, track each one separately. Our open enrollment dates guide and our Texas Health Insurance Marketplace guide cover the Marketplace side.

Where can Texans get free help?

State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) give free, personalized counseling. They aren't connected to any insurance company or health plan.

In Texas, the SHIP is the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). Texas Health and Human Services runs it with Area Agencies on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and it serves people with Medicare in all 254 Texas counties. HICAP puts a special focus on:

People with limited incomes
People under 65 with disabilities
People with both Medicare and Medicaid

Its MIPPA outreach also helps people learn about and use Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help to save on health care costs.

1-800-MEDICARE answers questions 24 hours a day, including weekends. If you're helping a parent, they must first give permission with a "Medicare Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information" form. They can send it by mail or fill it out online in their Medicare.gov account.

For more Texas basics, read Medicare in Texas: A Plain-English Guide.

What to do next

Find your ANOC and read it this week.
Build your list of drugs and doses, pharmacies, and doctors.
Compare plans at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
If you want a second opinion, contact a HICAP counselor or a licensed agent.
Enroll early enough that the plan receives your request by December 7, then check your Medicare.gov account.

If you'd like to talk with an agent, MeetBrokers is free to use. Every listed agent holds a state license that anyone can verify by National Producer Number, and our guide on how to verify a Texas insurance agent license shows you how. Profiles marked "unclaimed" come from public licensing records. You can browse licensed Medicare agents in Texas or review how to choose a Medicare agent first.

When you're ready, you can request help from a licensed Medicare agent in Texas. Your request goes only to the agent you choose. MeetBrokers is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.