Open Enrollment: How to Switch Your Medicare Drug Coverage Plan (Part D) for 2012

By Joseph L. Matthews, Caring.com Senior Editor
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When can we switch Medicare Part D prescription drug plans?

If you want to enroll in or switch a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, the time you're allowed to do so -- called "open enrollment" -- runs from October 15 through December 7, 2011, for coverage to begin January 1, 2012. The same dates apply if you want to enroll in a Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) plan that provides prescription drug coverage instead of enrolling in a Part D plan.

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

  • Are you a Medicaid recipient? If you receive benefits through Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) as well as Medicare, you can enroll in or switch to any Medicare Part D drug plan at any time.

  • Are you a nursing home resident? If you're a nursing home resident, you can enroll in or switch to any Medicare Part D drug plan at any time.

  • Are you a new Medicare enrollee? When you initially sign up for Medicare, you can enroll in any Medicare Part D prescription drug plan -- or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage -- that's offered where you live anytime within the three months following the month in which you first sign up for Medicare.

  • Is your Medicare Advantage plan dropping you? If you get drug coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan but that plan drops out of your area, you can join any other Medicare Advantage plan operating in your area (if it's accepting new enrollees) from October 1 to December 31. Or you can rejoin traditional Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B instead, and enroll in a Medicare Plan D prescription drug plan.

  • Have you moved? A Medicare Advantage plan isn't required to continue covering you if you move out of its service area. If you have your drug coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan but you move out of the plan's service area, you can enroll, between October 15 and December 7, in any other Medicare Advantage plan that operates where you now live. 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.

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