Find your path to Medicare with a local guide

You can sign up for Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan during the three months before, the month of and the three months after your 65th birthday. If you don’t sign up for prescription drug coverage or a plan with prescription drug coverage during that time, you may pay a penalty on your premium once you do. You can read more in our Medicare 101 Guide.

After your initial enrollment period, you can join or switch plans during set times each year.
The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) goes from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. If you have Original Medicare, you can join a Medicare Advantage plan during this time. If you already have a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to another or go back to Original Medicare. Your new plan will start on Jan. 1 of the next year.
The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP) goes from Jan. 1 to March 31. It’s for people who are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan — even if you just signed up for one during AEP.
During MA OEP, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan. Or you can switch to Original Medicare. But you can only switch once during this period each year. Your new plan will start on the first day of the month after you sign up.
Need a plan outside of these dates? If you’ve lost your coverage or had a major life change, you may qualify to make changes to your plan right away. Call us if you have questions.

When comparing plans, ask yourself these questions first.

• What's your plan's rating?
• Can you still see your favorite doctors?
• If the plan you're considering has prescription coverage, are all your drugs covered?
• What extra benefits do you get like dental, fitness and vision?
• And is it better for you to spend less per month and more each time you get care, or vice versa?

Both Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans have a network of providers you'll pay less to use. If you need to see a provider outside of that network, a PPO plan gives you some benefits for that care. But you'll still pay less by going to an in-network provider. An HMO plan generally won't cover care outside of your network. That means you'll pay the full cost for care outside of your network if you have an HMO Medicare plan. All of our BlueAdvantage plans are PPO plans. We have a wide network of providers, and we offer some coverage for visits to providers who aren't in our network, too.