Medicare Annual Enrollment is almost here!

The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) is just around the corner. AEP runs from October 15^th – December 7^th each year. This is the time of year when you can make changes to your Medicare coverage if you choose to. You can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare drug plan, or switch to Original Medicare during AEP. This is also the time of year to review what you have and see the possible changes to your existing plan for the upcoming year.

This year is a particularly important year to review your current plan, even if you have been happy with your coverage. Plans tend to change every year, but there will be more changes in 2025 than there has been in the past. The Inflation Reduction Act which has provided financial relief for millions of people with Medicare already, has another phase coming. A few of the changes we saw in 2023 we saw a cap of $35/month on insulin and no cost adult vaccines for people with Medicare Part D. The big change in 2024 was expansion of the Extra Help program to help more people with limited resources.

For 2025 the changes are big! The coverage gap or ‘donut hole’ has been eliminated. This means no more surprise increase in Rx costs when a Medicare recipient reaches a specified dollar amount. The $8000 annual out-of-pocket max for prescription drugs will be capped at $2000 resulting in lower drug costs for millions.

With all these changes, it is more important than ever to check in with your agent/broker to see how these changes will affect you. AEP is the perfect time to do this between October 15^th and December 7^th.