Call (800) 609-9900 to speak with a licensed insurance agent.

Call (800) 609-9900 to speak with a licensed insurance agent.

A Simple Medicare Enrollment Timeline

Posted by Wendell Woodson, October 1, 2016

Once you turn 65, you must enroll in a Medicare plan. You might also elect to enroll in a supplemental plan, depending upon your healthcare and insurance needs. Then, each year you can make changes to those plans, if you and your doctor decide that a change will benefit you.

But of course, the process for enrolling and disenrolling in Medicare plans can be a bit confusing. To help you understand what to do next, we’re providing this simple timeline.

Your Initial Coverage Election Period begins three months before your 65th birthday, lasts for the entire month of that birthday, and then extends for three months afterward. During this time, you must sign up for Medicare during this time period, or risk paying higher premiums for life if you sign up later.

If you’re receiving benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board, you will be automatically enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. If not, it’s your responsibility to initiate the enrollment process for these types of health insurance, and to evaluate your need for Part C, Part D, or Medigap coverage.

The General Enrollment Period operates from January 1 through March 31 each year. If you somehow missed your Initial Coverage Election Period, you can sign up for Medicare during this time. Coverage will begin on July 1 of that year.

The Annual Election Period, commonly called Open Enrollment, runs from October 15 through December 7 of each year. During this time, those of you who are already enrolled can evaluate necessary changes to your health insurance plan, and enroll in a different Medicare plan if desired. During this time each year, pay attention to mail sent to you by Medicare. These notices will detail any changes to your current plan. Also, talk to your doctor about anticipated healthcare needs for the next year. Switching to a different Medicare plan, or adding a supplemental plan, might help you save money. Changes to your coverage take effect on January 1.

From January 1 through February 14, the Special Disenrollment Period allows you to leave a Medicare Advantage Plan and switch to Original Medicare, if you so desire.

We hope this timeline helped to simplify Medicare facts for you. If you need any additional assistance, please give us a call. We can answer your questions and help you compare Medicare plans, so that you can locate the policy that best fits your needs.

Need more information?

Contact us online to learn more

Contact Us

Close Accessibility Tools
Accessibility Controls Reset
Content Adjustments
Font Size

Default

Line Height

Default

Content Scaling

Default

Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Highlight Forms
Align Left
Align Center
Align Right
Focus Mode
Color Adjustments
Desaturate
Monochrome
Contrast

Default

Saturation

Default

Accessibility Statement

Despite our attempts to make this website accessible for everyone, there may still be some pages or sections that are not completely accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or do not have a suitable technological solution to make them accessible. Nevertheless, we are always striving to enhance our accessibility by adding, updating, improving its options and features, and incorporating new technologies.

We want to provide our users with the best experience possible, so we strive to support as many browsers and assistive technologies as possible.

If you wish to contact this website's owner, please use the contact form on the website.

Our User Interface Adjustment Options

Font adjustments - With this tool, users can modify font size, style, letter spacing, and line height for improved alignment and readability.

Color adjustments - Users can customize their color contrast profiles to light, dark, desaturated, and monochrome.

Content highlighting - Users can prioritize key elements such as links, forms, and titles.

Content focus - Users can enable focus mode to highlight the current page information based on their mouse movement.

Close