Changing Your Medicare Advantage Plan Mid-Year: Your Windows

Outside Annual Open Enrollment, you can change a Medicare Advantage plan only during set windows. The main one runs January 1 to March 31, when you can make one change. Other windows open after certain events, such as a move, a plan ending, or getting Medicaid or Extra Help.

Key takeaways

• From January 1 to March 31, people in a Medicare Advantage plan can make one change.
• Moving out of your plan's service area opens a special enrollment period.
• If your plan leaves Medicare, you can switch from December 8 to the last day of February.
• People with Medicaid or Extra Help have a monthly window, but only for stand-alone drug plans.
• One doctor leaving does not open a window; only a significant network change can.

What is a special enrollment period?

Most plan changes happen during Annual Open Enrollment, October 15 to December 7. Changes made then start January 1.

At other times, you need a special enrollment period. This is a window that opens because of a life event or a plan event. Each one has its own start date, end date and rules about what you can change.

Plan choices and details vary by location and carrier. In most cases, a new plan starts the first day of the month after the plan gets your request.

What can you change from January to March?

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 to March 31. You can use it if you are in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1.

You can make one change in this window. You can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan, with or without drug coverage. Or you can leave Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare and join a stand-alone drug plan.

People with Original Medicare cannot use this window to switch drug plans. For more detail, see Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Your January-March Choices.

Can you switch plans after a move?

Yes. If you move out of your plan's service area, you get a special enrollment period. You also get one if you move within the area and new plans are offered at your new address.

If you tell your plan before you move, the window starts the month before your move. It lasts until 2 full months after the month you move. If you tell your plan after you move, it starts the month you tell them.

If you move out of the area, your plan will end your membership. If you do not join a new plan, you will have Original Medicare, since you still have Part A and Part B. Your plan's drug coverage also ends, so join a stand-alone drug plan to keep drug coverage. Learn more in Moving on Medicare.

What if your plan leaves Medicare?

Sometimes a plan leaves Medicare or stops serving your area at the end of the year. You get a plan non-renewal notice. You can change plans during Annual Open Enrollment, or in a special enrollment period from December 8 to the last day of February.

If you do nothing, you move to Original Medicare on January 1. If your plan had drug coverage, that coverage ends unless you join a plan with drug coverage. Joining by December 31 avoids a gap.

If you switch to Original Medicare, you also get a right to buy certain Medigap policies. It lasts from the date of the notice until 63 days after your plan coverage ends. A plan that is combined into another plan is not a non-renewal and does not open this window.

Do Medicaid or Extra Help open windows?

Yes. Since January 1, 2025, people with Medicaid or Extra Help get a special enrollment period once each calendar month. It is only for stand-alone Part D drug plans.

You can use it to join or switch a stand-alone drug plan. You can also use it to leave a Medicare Advantage plan for Original Medicare plus a stand-alone drug plan. It does not let you join or switch Medicare Advantage plans.

If you have full Medicaid, there is one more option. You can switch once a month into an integrated D-SNP (a Medicare Advantage plan for people with both Medicare and Medicaid) run by the same company as your Medicaid plan.

What other events open a window?

The table shows that each window follows a change in your life or your plan. Each one has its own time limit.

The 5-star window runs from December 8 to November 30 of the next year. You can use it once in that time to join a plan rated 5 stars. See Medicare Star Ratings for how ratings work.

What if a doctor leaves your plan?

One doctor leaving your plan does not open a special enrollment period. Your plan must tell members who see that doctor regularly. The notice comes at least 45 days before a primary care or behavioral health provider leaves, and at least 30 days before other providers leave.

A window to leave the plan exists only for a significant change in the plan's whole network. A significant change affects many members' access to care, not the loss of a single doctor. Medicare decides when a change meets that bar, and if it does, your plan sends a letter saying a window is open and how long it lasts.

If a doctor you rely on leaves, you can pick a new in-network doctor right away. You can also use the January 1 to March 31 window, or Annual Open Enrollment, to choose a plan that includes that doctor.

Can you undo your first Medicare Advantage plan?

Sometimes. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first got Medicare at 65, you have a trial right. Within your first 12 months in the plan, you can return to Original Medicare.

You also have a trial right if you dropped a Medigap policy to join Medicare Advantage for the first time. In both cases, you get a guaranteed-issue right to buy certain Medigap policies when you leave within those 12 months.

To use the trial right, ask to return to Original Medicare and join a stand-alone drug plan. Then apply for a Medigap policy no later than 63 days after your Medicare Advantage coverage ends.

Have questions? Call 1-877-443-3251 to talk it through with a licensed insurance agent. You never pay the agent; the plans they represent do, and the decision stays yours.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. Medicare has neither reviewed nor endorsed this information.