Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment (January 1 to March 31)

If you're in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you get one more chance to change your coverage between January 1 and March 31. For 2027, that's January 1 to March 31, 2027.

What you can do

• Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, with or without drug coverage.
• Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare, and join a separate Medicare drug plan.

You can make only one change during this period. It starts the first day of the month after the new plan gets your request. If you're going back to Original Medicare and joining a drug plan, you don't have to contact your Medicare Advantage plan: joining the drug plan ends it automatically.

What you can't do

• Switch from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage.
• Join a Medicare drug plan if you have Original Medicare.
• Switch from one drug plan to another if you have Original Medicare.

Those changes have to wait for the fall Open Enrollment, unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.

New to Medicare Advantage?

If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first got Medicare, you can switch plans or go back to Original Medicare within your first 3 months of having Medicare.

Thinking about going back to Original Medicare?

Plan for Medigap first. If you dropped a Medigap policy to try Medicare Advantage for the first time, you may have a 12-month trial right to get Medigap back. Otherwise, in most states insurers can ask health questions. See Medigap switching rules.

Special Enrollment Periods, for example when you move, can let you change plans at other times. See enrollment periods.