I am not happy with my Medicare Advantage plan. Can I switch plans in the middle of the year, or do I have to wait until open enrollment for next year’s plans?
In most cases, you cannot switch plans midyear. To choose a Medicare Advantage plan for next year, you must wait until open-enrollment season, which runs from October 15 to December 7. There’s a special enrollment period -- January 1 to February 14 -- that lets you switch out of a Medicare Advantage plan into traditional Medicare (and sign up for a stand-alone Part D prescription-drug policy), but you can’t use that window to move from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
A new option, however, allows the relatively few people who have access to a five-star Medicare Advantage plan to switch plans once during the year outside of open enrollment. (Medicare Advantage plans are assessed on 50 measures, focusing primarily on each plan’s coverage, communications and customer service. The highest rating is five stars.) The catch: There are only 12 five-star Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. (out of 569 plans available) in 2012, up from just three in 2011. The largest five-star plan is Kaiser Pemanente’s Medicare Advantage plan, which is available in 31 counties in California. There are other five-star plans in certain counties in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. To see whether any five-star plans are in your area, go to the Medicare Plan Finder and sort the Medicare Health Plans (another name for Medicare Advantage plans) by overall plan ratings when the list of available plans pops up, or call 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227). The star ratings are assessed once per calendar year.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
If you do have the opportunity to switch to a five-star plan, first decide whether it suits your needs. “Choice, convenience, coverage and cost are still important,” says Jan Berger, M.D., chief medical officer for Silverlink Communications, which helps Medicare Advantage plans communicate with consumers. “If you are lucky enough to be in an area with a five-star plan, you still have to weigh whether your doctor is in the plan and whether your drugs and hospitals are covered by the plan.”
You can find more information about each rating in the plan’s page in the Medicare Plan Finder. Also see Medicare’s Choose Higher Quality for Better Health Care fact sheet for more information.
-
Winners and Losers of Fed Rate CutsNavigating interest-rate changes can seem daunting, but these areas of the fixed-income market could perform better (or worse) than others.
-
What You Should Know About Spousal IRAsWithout spousal IRAs, you would need an earned income to contribute to your retirement account.
-
What Does Medicare Not Cover? Seven Things You Should KnowHealthy Living on a Budget Medicare Part A and Part B leave gaps in your healthcare coverage. But Medicare Advantage has problems, too.
-
Medicare Advantage 2024 Plans Dip in RatingsMedicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans lose 'star' on the CMS performance score card.
-
4 (Imperfect) Ways Retirees Can Pay for Dental Carehealth insurance Since Medicare doesn't provide dental benefits, seniors must consider other options to cover this need.
-
Seven Steps to Take Now to Prepare for Medicare Open EnrollmentMedicare It’s time to see if there’s a Medicare option that better fits your needs — and your budget. Don’t delay. Here’s where to start doing your research now.
-
11 Costly Medicare Mistakes You Should Avoid MakingMedicare If you don't make the right choices, you could end up with high Medicare premiums and big out-of-pocket costs.
-
How to Pick the Right Medicare Plans for YouHealthy Living on a Budget As you're signing up for Medicare, you must learn the basics of Medicare Part A, Part B, Part D, medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans and even doughnut holes. We'll help you sort out the confusion about signing up for Medicare -- and much more.
-
Navigate 2020 Medicare Changes During Open EnrollmentMedicare Beneficiaries can shop for new health coverage starting October 15. Find out what's new and perhaps less costly for the coming year.
-
Credit Report Error? They All Mattercredit & debt Don't dismiss a minor error. It could be the sign of something more serious.
