You turned 65, you did your research and utilized Medicare Initial Enrollment Period. You are now enrolled in a particular plan and everything seems right. Until you go to see a specialist and realize that you chose the wrong plan. You needed that knee surgery for a while and now you get to find out that your plan doesn’t actually cover any hospital stay. So you either have to find a specialist who will perform this procedure in an outpatient clinic or you switch Medicare plans. Can you even do that? And if you can, how?
Yes, you can switch Medicare plans!
First thing first, it is important to know that you don’t have to sign up for Medicare coverage each year. However, you do have the right to review and adjust your benefits. Or totally change your plan if that is what you want.
If you signed up for a plan that is no longer enough to cover your needs, do your homework and chose a new plan. You can enroll in a new plan during one of the enrollment periods. There are multiple enrollment periods for different parts of Medicare. To understand better which enrollment period is the one you want, you need to understand what different parts of Medicare are.
Medicare Parts and Plans
As you may already know, Medicare consists of 4 major parts, each is responsible for covering a different area of medical care. Medicare Part A(Hospital Insurance) covers inpatient services, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care. Part B covers doctor’s visits, outpatient care, medical supplies, and preventative care.
Medicare Part D covers prescription drugs. But you have none of those! Your plan is called Medicare Advantage plan. What is that? Don’t worry! Medicare Advantage plans are private insurance plans that are approved by the federal government guidelines. They are usually more comprehensive and offer Part A and Part B coverage in one package, as well as most, include part D coverage.
How to switch your Medicare Plan
No matter what plan you enrolled in initially, you have an opportunity to adjust it or totally switch. If you enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan initially but found that it is too much coverage for you, you can downgrade. To switch to Original Medicare plan, you need to call your current plan provider or 1-800-MEDICARE. If you wish to add coverage or switch to one of the private Medicare Advantage plans, find the appropriate enrollment period for the plan you wish to enroll into. You may not be able to switch any time you want, as there are set enrollment time periods.
They vary from plan to plan and some have multiple enrollment periods a year and some don’t. During these enrollment periods, you can sign up for a new plan or make changes to an existing plan. In most cases, your old plan will automatically dis-enroll you when your new plan becomes effective. Call your current plan provider if you have more questions on how to switch.
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