Switching by December 7 is allowed. Being accepted is not.
Leaving your plan is guaranteed; the policy that replaces it is not.
WHAT CHANGED?
Medicare's plan window opened today, and it stays open through December 7. Nothing about that is a trap. Between now and then you may leave a Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare, and whatever you hold on December 7 begins January 1.
Here is the part the calendar never mentions. Original Medicare by itself puts no yearly ceiling on what you pay. The ceiling comes from a Medigap policy, bought separately from a private company — and that purchase is not inside this window. Outside one specific six-month period, Medicare's own rules say an insurance company is allowed to deny you a policy if you don't meet their medical underwriting requirements. You can see which Medigap policies are sold where you live in about a minute, using nothing but your zip code.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
Anyone weighing a move out of Medicare Advantage before December 7. The move is yours to make. The policy that caps your costs afterwards is a separate application, and somebody else decides it.
Anyone who has had Part B for more than six months and never bought a supplement. That one-time window has closed, so a company may ask about your health, quote you more, or decline you outright.
Anyone whose Part B started within the last six months, at 65 or older. Your window is open right now, and while it is, no company may turn you down or raise your price because of your health.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Two different permissions are at work here, and every October they get mixed up. Medicare grants the first one: you may change plans, and nobody can stop you. A private insurance company grants the second: it may look at your health history and decline you, or price you higher, depending on when you apply and where you live.
The exception is real, but it is narrow. Certain situations — Medicare calls them guaranteed issue rights — oblige a company to sell you a policy whatever your health. If one of them fits you, apply within 63 days of your old coverage ending, and keep the letter that proves it ended. Some states hand you more protection than federal law does.
My honest take: do these two things in the opposite order from the one that feels natural. Find out what a supplement would cost you, and whether a company will take you, before you give up the plan you already have. The window closes on the switch. It never opened on the acceptance.
WHAT TO DO
Look up your own zip code before you touch your plan. Open Medicare's official Medigap finder, put in where you live, and read which companies sell supplement policies there and which plan letters each one offers. Then telephone one or two of them and ask the only question that settles this: given your age and your health, will they issue you a policy starting January 1, and at what monthly price? Ask now, while the switch is still reversible — not on December 8.
You Pay Them Every Month. Now It's Your Turn to Get Paid.
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One question for you: are you staying with the plan you have, or thinking about moving back to Original Medicare? Hit reply and tell me which. I read every reply, and what you tell me decides what I cover next.
Know someone planning to drop a Medicare Advantage plan this fall? Forward this to them, or send them your personal sign-up link so they get the next one too.
SOURCE: Medicare's own rules on when an insurer may turn you down
Written by Ellen Marsh
Retirement Money Brief is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask you for an account number, Social Security number, password, or payment.