2019-03-01 Money

32 MONEY.COM MARCH^2019

A BIG CHANGEhas come to

Medicare this year, and if

you’re on Medicare Advantage, it

might come in handy.

From Jan. 1 to March 31,

beneficiaries with Medicare

Advantage, also known as Part C,

can switch to a new Medicare

Advantage plan or can leave the

program altogether and return

to Original Medicare (Parts A

and B, with the option of buying

a stand-alone Part D drug plan).

Nearly 600,000 recipients are

expected to take advantage

of this open-enrollment period,

according to government esti-

mates. (Those already on Original

Medicare aren’t allowed to

make coverage changes during

this time.)

In prior years, this winter

switcheroo was called the

Medicare Advantage Disenroll-

ment Period. It ran Jan. 1 through

Feb. 14, and beneficiaries had the

option only to drop their Medi-

care Advantage plan and move

onto Original Medicare. This year,

the renamed Medicare Advantage

open-enrollment period has been

extended through March 31, and

recipients also have the option of

changing to a different Medicare

Advantage plan during this time.

Each eligible person is allowed

only one change throughout

this period.

A Stealth Medicare

Enrollment Period

If you’re unhappy with your Medicare Advantage plan,

you have until March 31 to switch.BY ELIZABETH O’BRIEN

Retire LOOKING FORWARD

outpatient services and Part A

hospitalization coverage. Benefi-

ciaries pay monthly Medicare

Advantage premiums in addition

to their Part B premium, although

some Medicare Advantage plans

charge $0 for premiums. One

reason Medicare Advantage plans

have become more popular in

recent years is that they some-

times cover services that Original

Medicare doesn’t, such as gym

memberships and hearing aids.

What’s more, many Medicare

Advantage plans offer built-in

drug coverage without the

premiums or deductibles charged

by the stand-alone Part D drug

plans bought by many Original

Medicare beneficiaries.

The tradeoff for these extra

perks is that unlike Original

Medicare, most Medicare

Advantage plans are HMOs and

come with a relatively narrow

network of participating doctors

and hospitals. One reason

someone might opt for a new plan,

or switch out of Medicare

Advantage altogether, is if he

discovers that one of his doctors

doesn’t participate in his plan, or

if he wants to see a specialist his

plan won’t pay for.

Just don’t expect any official

notifications about this. Unlike

during Medicare’s annual open

enrollment each fall, which is

accompanied by an advertising

blitz, companies are not allowed to

market their offerings within this

winter enrollment period. The

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

Services, which runs Medicare,

mentioned the new opportunity in

its annualMedicare & You hand-

book and in other materials online,

but it is not actively reaching out

directly to eligible beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage plans

have become increasingly popular

in recent years, with about 34% of

Medicare recipients currently

enrolled, according to the Kaiser

Family Foundation. These plans

offer coverage managed by private

health plans that contract with the

government to provide Part B

MEDICARE ADVANTAGE OPEN

ENROLLMENT: THE NEW DATES

THE ANNUAL OPEN-

ENROLLMENT PERIOD

Know Your Dates

Here are two open-enrollment windows every Medicare beneficiary should be aware of.

TO TO

January March October December

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