Medicare Advantage Enrollment Periods
Throughout the year, there are designated periods during which eligible beneficiaries may enroll in or change their Medicare plan. These include:
Initial Enrollment Period
Your Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) is the seven-month timeframe that surrounds your 65th birthday. Enrollment starts three months before you turn 65 and ends three months after you are 65.
Annual Enrollment Period
Also known as AEP, The Annual Enrollment Period runs from October 15 to December 7 each year. During this time, eligible Medicare beneficiaries can:
Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan with or without drug coverage (or add or drop drug coverage).
Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan or from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare.
Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare drug plan if you’re on Original Medicare.
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period
The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (OEP) allows Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to make a one-time change to their plan. If eligible, beneficiaries may:
Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan
Drop their Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare (Parts A and B)
Sign up for a Medicare Part D Prescription drug plan, if electing to return to Original Medicare.
Special Enrollment Periods
A Medicare Special Enrollment Period (SEP) takes place when certain events or life changes occur, allowing you to make changes to your existing Medicare plan. For example, you may be eligible for a Special Enrollment Period if you are new to Original Medicare, on Original Medicare but recently moved, or are losing coverage.
Learn more about Medicare Advantage plans with our free guide.
By entering my email above, I provide my prior express written consent to be contacted for future marketing communications from The Medicare Helpline and SelectQuote.
¹50% statistic is from a 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation report at
https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-in-2024-enrollment-update-and-key-trends | ²Average number of plans statistic is from a 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation report at
https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-in-2024-enrollment-update-and-key-trends. | MULTI-PLAN_SQa2r47ro72025_M