SENIOR LISTENING

Lisa Baxter, Aging Service Specialist

There are four Medicare Enrollment Periods. In last month’s Senior Listening I covered two of the four: the Initial Enrollment period and the General Enrollment period. In this month’s edition I will cover Open Enrollment and Special Enrollment Periods.

Open Enrollment (OE) — runs from October 15 to December 7. Any changes made to your Prescription Plan or Advantage Plan throughout this period will start January 1. It is especially important to review your plan’s annual notice of change which you should receive by the end of September. This notice will show any changes to your current plan for the next year. During this time, you can:

• Join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage Plan

• Change your Prescription drug coverage, also called Medicare Part D.

• Enroll in a Prescription drug plan if you go back to Original Medicare if you no longer want to stay on your Advantage Plan.

If you drop your Medicare Advantage Plan during...