Can I Still Change My Medicare Advantage Plan?

You can change your Medicare Advantage plan during three main windows: the Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 through December 7, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31 if you’re already in a plan, and any Special Enrollment Period triggered by a qualifying life event. Outside those windows you’re generally locked in until the next fall.

Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 to December 7

This is the broadest window and the one most people use. Between October 15 and December 7, you can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, drop Medicare Advantage and return to Original Medicare, move from Original Medicare into a Medicare Advantage plan, or add or remove Part D prescription drug coverage. There are no restrictions on what kind of change you make.¹

The plan must receive your enrollment request by December 7. Whatever change you make takes effect January 1 of the following year.¹

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 to March 31

If you’re already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you get one more chance to adjust your coverage. Between January 1 and March 31, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or drop Medicare Advantage and return to Original Medicare with the option to add a standalone Part D drug plan.²

You get exactly one change. If you switch in February and the new plan turns out to be wrong too, you can’t switch again during this period. Coverage starts the first day of the month after the plan receives your enrollment request.²

This period is not available to people on Original Medicare who want to join a Medicare Advantage plan. For that direction, you need the Annual Enrollment Period or a Special Enrollment Period.

Special Enrollment Periods for Life Events

Certain events open a Special Enrollment Period that lets you change plans outside the regular windows. The common ones:

Moving out of your plan’s service area. You have two full months after the move to join a new plan.³
Losing employer or union health coverage. You get an eight-month window to enroll in Parts A and B, and a separate 63-day window to join a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan after your employer coverage ends.³
Qualifying for Medicaid or Extra Help paying for drug coverage. You can make plan changes once per calendar month, with coverage starting the first of the following month.³
Your plan leaves Medicare or drops its service area. You get a window to choose a new plan.³
Living in or leaving an institution such as a nursing home or rehabilitation hospital. You can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan at any time while you’re there and for two full months after you move out.³
Release from incarceration.³

A federally declared disaster or emergency can also trigger a Special Enrollment Period. If you lived in a FEMA-designated disaster area at the start of the incident and missed an enrollment period because of it, CMS opens a four-month window measured from the start of the incident. You can attest to your residency if documents were destroyed, and the period also covers people outside the disaster zone who rely on friends or family in the affected area for healthcare decisions.⁴

Switching to a 5-Star Plan Any Time of Year

Medicare rates every plan on a scale of one to five stars. If a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan with a five-star rating is available in your area, you can switch to it once between December 8 and November 30 of the following year. That makes this option available almost year-round, but only once per cycle.³

Watch for one trap. If you switch from a Medicare Advantage plan that included drug coverage to a five-star plan that doesn’t, you lose your prescription drug coverage. You would have to wait until the next Annual Enrollment Period to get it back, and you could face a Part D late enrollment penalty for the gap.³

What If You Miss Every Window

If you don’t qualify for a Special Enrollment Period and you’ve already passed the Annual Enrollment Period, you’re generally stuck with your current plan until the next October 15. There is no general-purpose “I changed my mind” exception. The January-to-March window gives you one narrow escape if you’re already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, but once that closes, you wait until fall.

Before You Drop Medicare Advantage: The Medigap Trap

Dropping Medicare Advantage to go back to Original Medicare is straightforward during any of the windows above. The harder question is whether you’ll be able to buy a Medigap policy to cover the deductibles and coinsurance that Original Medicare leaves on you.

Your best Medigap opportunity is the six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which starts the month you turn 65 and are enrolled in Part B. During those six months, insurers must sell you any Medigap policy they offer regardless of your health history, and they cannot charge you more for pre-existing conditions.⁵ After that window closes, insurers in most states can use medical underwriting, refuse to sell you a policy, or charge substantially more based on your health.

One important exception protects people trying Medicare Advantage for the first time. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first became eligible for Medicare at 65, or if you dropped a Medigap policy to enroll in Medicare Advantage for the first time, you have a 12-month trial right. You can disenroll within those 12 months and return to Original Medicare with a guaranteed right to buy a Medigap policy without medical underwriting.⁶

Outside that trial right and a handful of other limited guaranteed-issue situations, getting an affordable Medigap policy after years in Medicare Advantage can be difficult or impossible depending on your health and your state’s rules. Investigate this before you drop your Medicare Advantage plan, not after.

Check the New Plan Before You Switch

Plans that look similar on the surface can differ dramatically in what they actually cost you when you need care. Three things to check on any plan you’re considering:

The Drug Formulary

Every Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage keeps a formulary listing the medications it covers and what you’ll pay for each. Drugs sit in tiers, with generics on the lowest-cost tier and specialty drugs on the highest. A plan that’s $20 cheaper per month in premiums can cost hundreds more if it places your medications on a higher tier or doesn’t cover them at all. Check the formulary for every medication you take, including dosage and quantity.

The Provider Network

Medicare Advantage plans use provider networks, and the type of plan sets how restricted the network is. HMO plans generally require you to use in-network doctors and get referrals from a primary care physician before seeing a specialist. PPO plans let you see out-of-network providers, but you’ll pay more for the flexibility. If you have an established relationship with a specialist or use a specific hospital system, confirm they’re in-network before you switch.

The Out-of-Pocket Maximum

Every Medicare Advantage plan must set an annual out-of-pocket maximum. Once you hit the cap, the plan covers 100% of your Part A and Part B costs for the rest of the year. Part D drug costs don’t count toward this cap. If you have a chronic condition or expect surgery, a plan with a lower out-of-pocket maximum can save thousands even if its monthly premium is higher.

How to Enroll in the New Plan

You can compare available plans using the Plan Finder tool on Medicare.gov, which lets you enter your medications, preferred doctors, and pharmacy to see estimated annual costs. Once you’ve chosen, you can enroll in a few ways:

Online through Medicare.gov or the plan’s own website.
By phone with the plan directly, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
By mail using a paper enrollment form from the plan.

When you enroll in a new Medicare Advantage plan, your old plan cancels automatically. You don’t need to call your previous plan to disenroll; the new plan handles the transition.⁷

When Your New Coverage Starts

The effective date depends on which window you used:

Changes made during the Annual Enrollment Period start January 1 of the following year.¹
Changes made during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period start the first of the month after the plan receives your request.²
Changes through a Special Enrollment Period typically start the first of the month after the plan gets your request, though the exact date depends on the qualifying event.³

Your old plan stays in effect until the day before your new plan starts, so there’s no gap in coverage during the transition itself.

Watch for a Part D Coverage Gap

If your plan change leaves you without creditable drug coverage for 63 or more consecutive days, Medicare will add a permanent penalty to your Part D premium. The penalty is 1% of the national base beneficiary premium for every month you lacked coverage, and in 2026 that base premium is $38.99.⁸

Fourteen months without creditable drug coverage, for example, produces a penalty of 14% of $38.99, or about $5.50 per month. That gets added to your plan’s premium and you pay it for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage. The penalty never goes away.⁸

This most commonly catches people who drop a Medicare Advantage plan that included drug coverage and switch to Original Medicare without immediately enrolling in a standalone Part D plan. If you’re going back to Original Medicare, sign up for a Part D plan at the same time. The same risk applies when moving to a five-star plan without drug coverage, even though you used a legitimate enrollment period to make the change.

1
Medicare. Open Enrollment
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Medicare. Joining a Plan
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Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods
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Department of Health & Human Services (CMS). Enrollment Issues for Weather Related Emergencies and Major Disasters
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Medicare. When Can I Buy a Medigap Policy
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Medicare. Buying a Medigap Policy
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Medicare. What if I Want to Switch, Drop, or Rejoin Drug Coverage
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Medicare. Avoid Late Enrollment Penalties