When is Medicare Open Enrollment 2026?

The Medicare Open Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7 each year, so in 2026 it opens October 15 and closes December 7. Changes you make during that window take effect January 1 of the following year. The plan must receive your request to join by December 7.

What is the deadline for Medicare Open Enrollment 2026?

December 7, 2026 is the deadline. Medicare.gov states that the plan must get your request to join by December 7 for coverage to begin January 1 of the next year. Submitting after that date generally means waiting for another enrollment opportunity.

What changes can I make during Medicare Open Enrollment?

You can join, drop or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, with or without drug coverage, or add or drop drug coverage. You can switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan or from a Medicare Advantage Plan back to Original Medicare. If you are in Original Medicare, you can join, drop or switch to another Medicare drug plan.

Is there another enrollment period after December 7?

Yes. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 through March 31, but it is open only to people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, so if you are in Original Medicare that window does not apply to you. Special Enrollment Periods may also apply after certain life events, like moving or losing other coverage.

What happens if I do nothing during Open Enrollment?

In most cases your enrollment continues into the new year. But plans can change their drug lists, networks and costs annually, so your coverage details may differ even if your enrollment does not. Reading the notices your plan sends in the fall, and checking your medications against the plan's formulary, is the way to find out.

Medicare Open Enrollment 2026: Dates, Deadline and a Simple Checklist

Mark two dates on the calendar: October 15 and December 7. That is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period, the yearly stretch when you can join, drop or switch a Medicare Advantage Plan, move between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage Plan, or add, drop or change a Medicare drug plan if you are in Original Medicare. Whatever you choose takes effect January 1 of the next year, and the plan has to receive your request by December 7. There is one more window worth knowing: if you are already in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you get a second chance to make a change between January 1 and March 31.

What Medicare Open Enrollment Is and Why It Matters After 50

Medicare Open Enrollment is a yearly window — October 15 through December 7 — when people already on Medicare can change how their coverage is put together. It is not the time you first sign up for Medicare; that is a separate enrollment period tied to your 65th birthday or to other life events.

Think of it as the one time each year the door is unlocked. Outside that window, most changes require a special circumstance. Inside it, you can rearrange your coverage and the new arrangement starts January 1.

It matters because coverage is not static. Drug lists change, networks change, and your own health changes. A setup that fit you two years ago may not fit the medications you take now. Even if you decide to keep everything exactly as it is — which is a perfectly reasonable outcome — the window is a good prompt to check.

The three parts, in plain language

Part A is hospital coverage — inpatient hospital stays and related care.
Part B is medical coverage — doctor visits and outpatient services. Together, Part A and Part B are called Original Medicare.
Part D is Medicare drug coverage. Medicare.gov describes it as extra coverage people with Medicare can choose to help lower prescription drug costs, offered through Medicare-approved private plans. Even if you take no prescriptions right now, Medicare suggests considering drug coverage.

A Medicare Advantage Plan is a different way to get your Part A and Part B coverage, through a Medicare-approved private plan, sometimes with drug coverage included.

What you can actually change between October 15 and December 7

Medicare.gov lists these changes for the Open Enrollment Period:

Join, drop or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, with or without drug coverage (or add or drop drug coverage).
Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan, or from a Medicare Advantage Plan back to Original Medicare.
Join, drop or switch to another Medicare drug plan if you are in Original Medicare.

Coverage from any of those changes starts January 1 of the next year. The plan must get your request to join by December 7 — a postmark or a phone call on December 8 is too late.

The Dates You Need, and the One Most People Miss

Two windows, two purposes. Here is how they line up.

Window	Dates	Who it applies to	When coverage starts
Open Enrollment Period	October 15 – December 7	Anyone with Medicare	January 1 of the next year
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period	January 1 – March 31	Only people already in a Medicare Advantage Plan	First of the month after the plan gets your request

The second row is the one people miss. If January arrives and your new Medicare Advantage Plan is not working the way you expected, you are not stuck until next October — but that window is only open to people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan.

If you do nothing

Doing nothing is a choice, and sometimes the right one. In most cases coverage continues into the new year. But plans can change their drug lists, their networks and their costs from one year to the next, so “nothing changed” is rarely true in practice — what did not change is your enrollment, not your coverage details.

The safest habit is to read the notices your plan mails in the fall and compare them against the medications and doctors you actually use.

What Original Medicare leaves you to pay

Under Original Medicare, for Part B-covered services you usually pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after you meet the yearly Part B deductible. That 20% share is called coinsurance. You also pay a monthly Part B premium, and if you join a Medicare drug plan, a separate Part D premium.

The dollar amounts for the Part B premium and deductible are set each year, so they change annually. Current figures are posted at Medicare.gov’s costs page.

With a Medicare Advantage Plan, out-of-pocket costs vary, and plans may have different out-of-pocket costs for certain services. You still pay the monthly Part B premium and may also pay the plan’s premium.

A Simple Open Enrollment Checklist

Work through these five steps in order. Most people can finish in an afternoon, and none of it requires giving your information to anyone who sells coverage.

1. Write down every medication you take

List the exact name, the strength in milligrams, and how often you take it. Include anything you take occasionally. Bring the list — or a photo of it — when you call for help.

This matters because each Medicare drug plan has its own list of covered drugs, called a formulary. Medicare requires all plans to cover a wide range of drugs that people with Medicare take, including most drugs in certain protected classes such as drugs to treat cancer, HIV/AIDS or depression. Beyond that, formularies differ.

While you have the list out, it is a good moment to add any vitamins or supplements you take and review them with a pharmacist — some interact with prescription medicines. Our guide to supplements and medications walks through the common ones.

2. Check that your doctors, hospital and pharmacy work with the coverage you are considering

Under Original Medicare you can use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the U.S. You may pay more if your doctor does not accept assignment — meaning the doctor has not agreed to accept the Medicare-approved amount as full payment. In most cases you do not need a referral to see a specialist.

With a Medicare Advantage Plan, you may need to use doctors and other providers in the plan’s network and service area for non-emergency care. Some plans cover non-emergency care out of network, but it may cost more, and you may need a referral to see a specialist.

Confirm directly with the doctor’s office and the pharmacy, not just the directory.

3. Compare total yearly cost, not just the premium

A premium is only one line on the bill. Add up what you would likely pay across a full year: premiums, deductibles, coinsurance or copays for the visits you actually have, and what your specific medications would cost.

A lower monthly premium with higher costs at the pharmacy counter can end up costing more over twelve months than a higher premium would. Run the numbers on your own medication list, not on an average.

4. Think about travel and time away from home

If you spend part of the year in another state, or travel often, ask how non-emergency care is handled away from your home area. Original Medicare’s provider choice covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. Network rules under a Medicare Advantage Plan are set by the plan, so check the plan’s own documents.

5. Use the official tools — and get free help

The plan finder on Medicare.gov lets you enter your medications and ZIP code and see what is available where you live. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE, or talk with a counselor at your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free, unbiased one-on-one help.

Do the comparison yourself or with a SHIP counselor before responding to anything that arrives in the mail.

What to Look For and What to Be Careful About

Open Enrollment brings a flood of mail, television ads and phone calls. A few habits keep the noise from steering the decision.

Read the plan’s own documents

Every Medicare Advantage Plan must cover what Original Medicare covers. Anything beyond that varies plan by plan. The document that spells out what a specific plan covers is called the Evidence of Coverage. If something in an advertisement is not spelled out there, call the plan and ask them to point to where it is written.

Check the formulary with your actual drug list

Look up each medication by name and strength on the plan’s formulary, and note what tier it falls in and whether it requires prior approval. A plan that covers 95% of your prescriptions but not the one you take daily is not the right fit.

Be skeptical of urgency

The deadline is December 7, and it does not move. Any message pressing you to decide today, or asking for your Medicare number, bank details or Social Security number over the phone, deserves a hang-up and a call to 1-800-MEDICARE. Medicare will not call you out of the blue to sell coverage.

Decide based on your own year ahead

Surgery planned? A new diagnosis? A move across state lines? Those details should drive the decision more than any brochure. If your health priorities have shifted, this is also a sensible time to revisit the basics with your doctor — our overviews of supplements for a 70-year-old woman and supplements for a 70-year-old man cover the nutrition questions that often come up at the same annual visit.

Where to Get Official Answers

Nothing on this page replaces the official sources. Three of them are free, and none of them sell coverage.

Medicare.gov — the program’s own site, with the plan finder, current cost figures and coverage rules.
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048 — available to answer questions about your own situation.
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — free, personalized counseling in your state. Find your local program through Medicare.gov’s talk to someone page.

For anything that depends on medical necessity — meaning the service is needed to diagnose or treat your condition — ask your doctor whether it is medically necessary for you, and ask the plan or 1-800-MEDICARE how it is covered. And before you change or stop anything you take, talk with your doctor or pharmacist first. This article is general education from an independent publisher; it is not advice on choosing a plan, and it is not affiliated with or approved by Medicare or the federal government.

Sources:

Medicare.gov — Joining a plan — Supports the October 15–December 7 Open Enrollment dates, the list of permitted changes, the January 1 coverage start, and the January 1–March 31 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period.
Medicare.gov — Compare Original Medicare & Medicare Advantage — Supports doctor and hospital choice, assignment, referrals, the 20% Part B coinsurance after the deductible, premium structure, network and service-area rules, and the list of covered U.S. states and territories.
Medicare.gov — What do drug plans cover? — Supports the description of Part D, the formulary, and the requirement that plans cover a wide range of drugs including most drugs in protected classes.
Medicare.gov — Medicare costs — Where readers check the current-year Part B premium and deductible amounts, which change annually.
Medicare.gov — Talk to someone — Supports 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, and free State Health Insurance Assistance Program counseling.