Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15 and runs through December 7. If you are on Medicare, or you help a parent who is, this is the window that matters most all year. Here is what to have straight before it opens.
What the Annual Enrollment Period actually is
The Annual Enrollment Period, often shortened to AEP, is the stretch each fall when people on Medicare can change their coverage for the coming year. During this window you can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, or join, switch, or drop a Part D prescription drug plan. Anything you change takes effect January 1.
If you are happy with your current plan and it is still being offered, you are not required to do anything. It renews on its own. The catch is in that word "still."
Why last year's plan is not automatically this year's plan
Medicare plans are allowed to change their pricing and coverage every year, and most of them do. A drug that was covered last year can move to a higher cost tier, get dropped from the plan's list, or pick up a new prior authorization requirement. Premiums, copays, and deductibles can all shift. A doctor who was in network can leave it.
The rules change too. For 2027 coverage, the most any Part D enrollee will pay out of pocket for covered drugs is capped at $2,400 for the year, up from $2,100 in 2026. That is good news, but it is also a reminder that the numbers move. The plan that was the right fit last year is not automatically the right one now. The only way to know is to look.
The one document worth finding
Every plan mails its members an Annual Notice of Change, usually in September. It spells out exactly what is different about your plan for the coming year: the new premium, the new drug list, the new costs. It is easy to toss with the junk mail, and it is the single most useful piece of paper you will get all season.
If you can put your hands on that one notice before October 15, you are already ahead of most people.
If you have a parent on Medicare
For a lot of families, this falls to an adult child, and October is the month to help. It does not take much. Sit down together, pull their current plan and that Annual Notice of Change, and make a short list of the medications they actually take and the doctors they want to keep. Then check those against what the plan is doing next year.
That small bit of prep is the whole game. It is the difference between a calm afternoon in October and a rushed decision the first week of December when the deadline is closing in. A little review now almost always beats guessing later.
No pressure, just a clear look
This is the part we care about most. Comparing Medicare plans should not feel like a sales pitch. When we sit down with someone during AEP, the goal is simply to lay their options side by side, in plain language, and help them see which one fits their medications, their doctors, and their budget for the coming year. As an independent brokerage, we are not steering anyone toward a single carrier. We are helping them read the picture honestly.
If you or a parent want a second set of eyes before December 7, we are glad to walk through it with you. No pressure attached, just an honest look at what fits.
Whether you're shopping for group benefits for your team, turning 65 and sorting out Medicare, or looking at life insurance for the first time, we are happy to spend some time walking you through it.
