Start With Your Enrollment Period
Turning 65? Your Medicare Initial Enrollment Period generally lasts seven months—beginning three months before the month you turn 65 and ending three months afterward.
Already have Medicare? Different rules apply depending on what coverage you have and what you want to change. Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7 each year for many Medicare Advantage and Part D changes.
Understanding which enrollment period applies to you can help you avoid missed deadlines and coverage problems.
Your ZIP Code Matters
Los Angeles County is enormous, stretching across communities with very different healthcare systems and provider networks.
Medicare Advantage and Part D plan availability can vary by where you live. Your ZIP code is therefore an important starting point when reviewing available plans.
For a complete list of plans available where you live, visit Medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), or contact California HICAP at 1-800-434-0222.
Two Ways to Receive Your Medicare Benefits
Most people make an important choice between two basic approaches. Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage.
Original Medicare
You receive Part A and Part B directly through Medicare. You can generally see any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare. You may also choose a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy to help with certain out-of-pocket costs and a separate Part D plan for prescription drugs.
Medicare Advantage
You receive your Medicare-covered Part A and Part B benefits through a private Medicare Advantage plan. Plans may use provider networks and often include prescription drug coverage and additional benefits.
Neither approach is automatically better. The differences become important when you consider your doctors, hospitals, prescriptions, expected healthcare use, travel, and budget.
Need Help With Medicare Costs?
You may qualify for programs that can help with premiums, prescription drug costs, and other healthcare expenses. Alan may help you understand programs that may lower your Medicare costs, but eligibility is determined by the government agency responsible for each program.
My Medicare Checkup
Answer a few questions about your ZIP code, what matters about cost and doctors, and where you get care. The summary shows the questions those answers raise. Confirm each one with the office, the plan, or Medicare.gov. A listing in a directory, or the name of a plan, does not show whether a doctor is in the network, whether a prescription is covered, or what you would pay this year.
Start My Medicare CheckupYou will get a summary of the questions to verify. You can also talk it through with Alan.
For the other pages on this topic, open the Keeping your doctors guide.