Switching plans
Can You Switch Medicare Advantage Plans? Every Window, Explained
Yes. You can switch Medicare Advantage plans during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 to December 7) and once more during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31). Outside those windows, you need a Special Enrollment Period.
Should you switch? Check these five things first
Most switching regret comes from chasing a lower premium and discovering the real costs later. Before you move, compare your current plan and the new one on the things that actually generate bills:
- Are your doctors and preferred hospital in the new plan's network?
- Are your prescriptions on the new formulary, and at what tier?
- What is the new plan's maximum out-of-pocket, not just its premium?
- Which extra benefits (dental, vision, hearing, OTC) do you actually use?
- Did either plan's star rating change this year?
The three switching paths
Medicare Advantage to Medicare Advantage
The simple one. Enroll in the new plan during AEP or MA-OEP and you're automatically disenrolled from the old one. No gap, no overlap.
Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare
Drop your Advantage plan during AEP or MA-OEP, return to Parts A and B, and add a standalone Part D drug plan. Most people who make this move also want a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan to cap the 20% coinsurance Original Medicare leaves open.
The Medigap caveat inside path two
Outside your one-time Medigap open enrollment window, Medigap approval usually requires medical underwriting. Apply and get approved before you drop your Advantage plan, not after. This ordering mistake is the most expensive one in Medicare, and it's the first thing we check in a review.
Thinking about path two? Read how Medigap works first.
One call checks all five switch factors against every plan in your county. Free, and honest about when staying put wins.
Missed December 7? Your remaining windows
MA Open Enrollment Period (January 1 - March 31)
Anyone already in a Medicare Advantage plan gets one switch: to another MA plan, or back to Original Medicare plus Part D.
5-Star Special Enrollment Period
If a 5-star rated plan serves your county, you can switch into it once between December 8 and November 30.
Special Enrollment Periods
Moving out of your plan's service area, losing other coverage, qualifying for Extra Help, and certain other events each open their own switching window.
Switching questions, answered
No. The two regular windows are the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 to December 7) and the MA Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31, one switch, for people already in an Advantage plan). Outside those, you need a qualifying Special Enrollment Period.
Get the switch checked before you make it
Tell us the plan you have and the one you're considering, and a licensed advisor will run your doctors, prescriptions, and real costs through both, including the Medigap underwriting question if you're heading back to Original Medicare.
Switch with your eyes open, or stay with confidence
Either way, you'll know by the end of one free conversation.
Mon–Fri 8am–8pm ET · Sat by appointment