Open Enrollment: How to Switch Your Medicare Advantage (Part C) Plan for 2012

When can we switch Medicare Advantage plans?

If you want to enroll in, withdraw from, or switch your enrollment in a Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) plan, you're allowed to do so -- without any restrictions from the insurance companies based on your age or health history -- during what's called "open enrollment." When you have open enrollment depends on what you want your next coverage to be.

• To switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, the open enrollment period runs from October 15 to December 7, 2011, for coverage in 2012.

• To withdraw from a Medicare Advantage plan and return to traditional Medicare Part A and Part B, you may do so from January 1 to February 14, 2012. If you do, and your Medicare Advantage plan covered prescription drugs, during the same period you may also enroll in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.

Note: Medicare D drug plans. If the Medicare Advantage plan you're leaving included prescription drug coverage but you switch to a Medicare Advantage plan that doesn't include drug coverage, you may want to enroll in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan to help cover your prescription drug costs. Open enrollment for Medicare Part D drug plans is also October 15 to December 7. See Open Enrollment: How to Switch Your Medicare Drug Coverage Plan (Part D) for 2012.

Note: Medigap supplemental insurance policies. If you leave a Medicare Advantage plan and return to traditional Medicare Part A and Part B, you may want to consider buying a Medigap supplemental insurance policy. There's no yearly open enrollment period to buy a Medigap policy, however, so it's completely up to the Medigap insurance companies as to what policies they're willing to sell you and the prices they charge, depending on your age and health history. A few insurance companies, however, will sell certain Medigap policies at any time, regardless of your age or health status.

Exceptions: Do any of these special open enrollment situations apply to you?

• Are you a new Medicare enrollee? If so, you can enroll in any Medicare Advantage plan offered where you live anytime within the three months immediately after the month in which you first sign up for Medicare.

• Is your Medicare Advantage plan dropping you? If your Medicare Advantage plan drops out of your specific geographic area, you can join any other Medicare Advantage plan operating where you live (if it's accepting any new enrollees) from October 1 to December 31. Or you can rejoin traditional Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B instead. If you do return to traditional Medicare, you're also guaranteed the right to buy a Medigap supplemental insurance policy.

• Have you moved? A Medicare Advantage plan isn't required to continue covering you if you move out of its specific geographic service area. If you move out of your current plan's service area, you can enroll in any Medicare Advantage plan that operates where you move to, but only during that plan's open enrollment period: October 1 to January 31. If there's a gap between the time you move and this open enrollment period, you'll have to enroll temporarily in traditional Medicare Part A and Part B in the meantime.

To learn more about special enrollment for different parts of Medicare, see Medicare's official online pamphlet, Understanding Medicare Enrollment Periods.