If you are currently on Medicare on a Part D prescription plan or Medicare Advantage plan, you are in the middle of your Medicare Annual Enrollment Period.
Missing this period and not being aware of these changes is extremely dangerous. There are many costly Medicare changes happening now and this is your chance to ensure you are in the best plan for the upcoming year.
Taking advantage of this window is easier than you think and you can ensure you are protecting your savings by doing so.
As you may know, Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period is a short time from October 15th to December 7th. For most people, this is the only time of the year where you can switch Part D and Medicare Advantage plans.
However, this annual review kicked off a few months ago when your Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan mailed you a notice regarding all of the changes to your policy in the upcoming year.
It is crucial that you pay very close attention to this notice and other changes to your Medicare plans because too many people ignore these changes.
Today, I want to share with you:
- What to pay attention to when it comes to changes,
- Why understanding this notice is very important and
- What steps to make sure you’re protecting yourself, your healthcare and your savings.
I recommend you start by looking at your Medicare plan details and understand what is changing your plan details.
Are your premiums changing? Are they changing your doctors? Are they making changes to your medications? Are they changing the tiering of your medications? Are they dropping any medications? All of these questions are so important to pay attention to.
Recently, we had a woman come into our office. She has autoimmune issues and high blood pressure. We were reviewing the plan that she is currently on for her Part D to find her the best plan for the new year.
Her current plan changed her premium, dropped some of her medications and it changed what pharmacist she could go to.
Based on our research, we realized that if she stayed on her current plan for the new year, it would cost her over $10,000 more. Therefore, we recommended she switch to another Part D plan in order to save that $10,000.
If you are on medications for autoimmune disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, asthma, diabetes or something similar, it’s even more important to review your plan details and understand the changes they are making.
The window to make changes to your current plan began on October 15th and will end on December 7th. Outside of this window, unless you have a special circumstance where you change more often, you won’t be able to make any changes. If you miss the December 7th date, you will be stuck in this plan for the new year.
This time of year is always a great time to review your current plan. You have the opportunity to change your plans and potentially save yourself so much money. It is so important to review your plan details to ensure that your current plan still fits your unique situation.
