Every fall, millions of people on Medicare get a letter that looks alarming. It says your plan is changing, your premiums are going up, your drug coverage is different, or some combination of all three. Most people have no idea whether they need to act or not. Here’s how to figure that out in plain English.
Why you’re getting this letter
Medicare plans — especially Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans — are allowed to change their terms every year. Insurers are required to notify you of those changes in writing before October 15th, which is when Medicare’s Open Enrollment period begins. That letter is called an Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC.
It is not a bill. It is not an emergency. It is a heads-up.
The one question to ask yourself
Does anything in the letter affect something you actually use?
Look for three things specifically:
- Your monthly premium. Is it going up significantly?
- Your drugs. Are any of your current prescriptions no longer covered, or moved to a more expensive tier?
- Your doctors. Are your doctors still in-network under the new plan terms?
If the answer to all three is no — nothing changes for you and you don’t have to do a thing. Your current plan rolls over automatically on January 1st.
When you do need to act
If something important is changing — a drug you take every day is no longer covered, your premium is jumping by $50 a month, your primary doctor is no longer in-network — then Open Enrollment is your window to switch. It runs from October 15th to December 7th every year.
During that window you can switch Medicare Advantage plans, switch Part D drug plans, or go back to Original Medicare. Changes take effect January 1st.
The easiest way to compare your options
- Go to Medicare.gov and use the Plan Finder tool. It lets you enter your drugs and doctors and shows you which plans cover them and at what cost.
- Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). A real person will walk you through your options for free.
- Contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Every state has one. They offer free, unbiased counseling from trained volunteers. No sales pitch, ever.
One thing to watch out for
The weeks around Open Enrollment bring out a lot of aggressive Medicare marketing — TV ads, mailers, phone calls, door-to-door salespeople. None of that is Medicare. Medicare itself will never call you unsolicited to sell you a plan. If someone calls claiming to be Medicare and pushes you to switch, hang up.
Bottom line: read the letter, check your three things, and only act if something that matters to you is changing. If you’re not sure, call Medicare or your SHIP counselor — it’s free and they’re genuinely helpful.
Got a Medicare letter you’re not sure about? John offers private document review at JohnExplainsIt.com.