Co-Founder, TermInsuranceBrokers.com, Goldenzweig Financial Group, Las Vegas, Nevada
Are you referring to a Medicare Supplement plan (also known as a Medigap plan), a Medicare Advantage plan, or a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan?
Your original Medicare coverage (Medicare Parts A & B) is provided by the federal government.
You can apply for a new Medicare Supplement plan anytime during the year. You can be subject to medical underwriting (answering yes/no health questions, a phone interview with the carrier, and a prescription check) if you're outside your initial enrollment period (when you were new to Medicare Part B) and do not have a guarantee-issue right available to you. Medical underwriting for Medicare Supplement plans can be done in less than a week. There are no exams for these products.
Please note, a common concern I hear a lot from individuals looking to replace their Medicare Supplement plans is they're worried they're at risk of losing the existing one if they apply for a new one and get declined. This is NOT true! Even if you apply for a new Medicare Supplement plan and get declined, you can always keep the existing plan because Medicare Supplement plans are guaranteed renewable.
If you're looking to change your prescription drug plan provider or your Medicare Advantage plan provider, you can only make a change during certain times of the year. For the most part, you can only make changes during the annual enrollment period each year (between October 15 - December 7) with changes becoming effective January 1. Outside of this enrollment period, you can only make changes under certain situations (known as special enrollment periods). An example of this is if you moved outside of the plan's service area. For a full list of situations that qualify you for special enrollment periods to make changes, please visit the Medicare.gov website.
I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help with your coverage and if you have any other questions. Thanks very much.
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Your original Medicare coverage (Medicare Parts A & B) is provided by the federal government.
You can apply for a new Medicare Supplement plan anytime during the year. You can be subject to medical underwriting (answering yes/no health questions, a phone interview with the carrier, and a prescription check) if you're outside your initial enrollment period (when you were new to Medicare Part B) and do not have a guarantee-issue right available to you. Medical underwriting for Medicare Supplement plans can be done in less than a week. There are no exams for these products.
Please note, a common concern I hear a lot from individuals looking to replace their Medicare Supplement plans is they're worried they're at risk of losing the existing one if they apply for a new one and get declined. This is NOT true! Even if you apply for a new Medicare Supplement plan and get declined, you can always keep the existing plan because Medicare Supplement plans are guaranteed renewable.
If you're looking to change your prescription drug plan provider or your Medicare Advantage plan provider, you can only make a change during certain times of the year. For the most part, you can only make changes during the annual enrollment period each year (between October 15 - December 7) with changes becoming effective January 1. Outside of this enrollment period, you can only make changes under certain situations (known as special enrollment periods). An example of this is if you moved outside of the plan's service area. For a full list of situations that qualify you for special enrollment periods to make changes, please visit the Medicare.gov website.
I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help with your coverage and if you have any other questions. Thanks very much.