Key Takeaways

  • Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) enable seniors to change Medicare Advantage plans outside of the initial and open enrollment periods.

  • One key SEP is the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, running January 1 - March 31 each year.

There are a few opportunities seniors have outside of the initial and open enrollment periods to change Medicare Advantage plans.

These Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) include:

  • A trial period when a person first enrolls in Medicare Advantage following their initial enrollment into Medicare
  • SEPs for people with limited income to change into plans that have limited to no cost-sharing
  • An SEP for when a person moves out of a plan's service area
  • SEPs to remedy erroneous enrollments, and
  • An SEP for those affected by government-declared disasters and emergencies

Learn about these Medicare Advantage Special Enrollment Periods in this fact sheet, and the circumstances that enable people with Medicare to take advantage of them. Also included in this fact sheet is a description of the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period running from January 1 - March 31 each year.