2022 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period: What you need to know

Introduction

The 2022 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) officially runs from October 15th through December 7th, with any changes taking a firm January 1st effective date. This critical article will patiently explain the deeply important considerations to keep in mind to properly prepare for AEP, so you can confidently ensure you're maximizing your vital benefits and securing your healthcare coverage for the year ahead.

Your options during AEP

During this incredibly important enrollment period, you hold the power to:

• Safely disenroll from a Medicare Advantage plan and switch seamlessly back to Original Medicare;
• Disenroll from Original Medicare and enroll in a comprehensive Medicare Advantage plan;
• Switch your current Medicare Advantage plan entirely to a new, better-suited plan;
• Enroll in a vital Part D Prescription Drug Plan to cover your medications;
• Switch your existing Part D Prescription Drug Plan to a new, more cost-effective plan; or
• Cancel your Part D Prescription Drug Plan altogether (though this should be done with extreme caution to avoid future penalties).

Who can make changes during this period?

Only people who are currently fully enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B can utilize this window. If you are not yet legally eligible for Medicare, you will sadly need to wait patiently until your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) opens up. If you're already eligible but haven't signed up yet, you'll unfortunately need to wait until the General Election Period (GEP) to finally sign up.

Why make changes during the Annual Enrollment Period?

Medicare Advantage and Part D Prescription plan health insurance carriers relentlessly release new plans, and make sweeping updates to their existing plans, each and every year. That directly means that the monthly premiums, copays, and coinsurance of your current plan may unexpectedly change and strain your budget. There may also be highly competitive new plans released in your area with robust benefits that are vastly superior to what your current plan offers.

You should reliably receive an Annual Notice of Change (ANoC) document in September each year from your Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug plan health insurance carrier. This vital ANoC will clearly explain any upcoming changes to the features, costs, and benefits of your current policy that will take strict effect the following year.

If you're frustrated or unhappy with the cost increases or network changes shown in your ANoC, you have the absolute right to actively change your coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period.

Things to consider when switching to a new plan during AEP

There is a massive variety of incredibly common, practical reasons why you might want to seriously consider switching to a new Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug plan:

A painful increase in your monthly premiums

You may currently pay a very small or even no monthly premium for your Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug plan. However, if your ANoC suddenly shows an alarming increase in this premium for your current plan for the following year, it is absolutely a good time to proactively shop around to see if there are other, more budget-friendly plans available to you.

A serious change in your medications

If you've suffered a change in your health and your prescription medication needs have shifted during the year, it is crucial to carefully review your prescription coverage under your current plan to see if new plans provide better, cheaper coverage. There may also be a steep change in the copays and coinsurance that you are forced to pay under your current plan. You should aggressively find out whether your current plan will even cover your vital prescription medications for the upcoming year, and if they do, exactly what the cost will be. In particular, if you require high-cost or specialty medications to manage a condition, it's a fantastic idea to check if any new plans available in your area offer lower costs to save your savings.

Anticipating your expected annual medical costs

You can smartly compare your expected total annual medical costs by realistically considering how many doctor visits and medical procedures you expect to undertake in the upcoming year. You can strictly use this same logic to assess your current plan and compare it to other exciting new plans available to see if you could be saving massive amounts of money by making a switch.

Coverage of your trusted doctors under the plan's network

Doctor networks under Medicare Advantage plans change constantly and without warning. You should meticulously confirm that your deeply trusted doctors will still be covered under your current plan by contacting your Medicare Advantage plan member support directly. You should completely review the coverage of your current doctors under your current plan and relentlessly compare it to the network availability of your doctors under other competing plans as well.

Enjoying planned travel

If you happily expect to travel a lot in the upcoming year, you may want to highly consider finding a plan that safely allows you to see doctors and providers outside of the plan's strict network, such as a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan. You could also strongly consider switching back to Original Medicare (and immediately purchasing a Medicare Supplement plan), which will brilliantly allow you to see all doctors and providers around the entire country who safely accept Medicare.

Gaining access to extra additional benefits

If you're currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, your plan likely offers some additional benefits such as vision, dental, hearing, over-the-counter stipends, and fitness membership benefits (just to name a few). You should carefully review the generous additional benefits available under newly released plans when evaluating your true plan needs for the upcoming year.

Understanding plan ratings

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cleverly uses a star ratings system to officially rate each Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plan yearly. Each plan receives a public rating out of 5 stars, with 5 being the absolute highest possible rating. The critical factors used to determine the rating tightly include customer service, overall member experience, and the number of formal member complaints. The ratings for Medicare Advantage plans are also heavily based on the vital preventative care services they provide to help people stay healthy and out of the hospital.

Preparing for the Annual Enrollment Period