How do I join a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare Prescription Drug Plan? - Medicare and You Handbook - A Guide to Medicare

How do I join a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare Prescription Drug Plan?
Compare the Medicare Advantage Plans and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D)s available in your area. To compare plans, visit www.medicare.gov on the web, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). You can also contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (see Other Important Medicare Contacts for their telephone number) or one of Medicare's other partners to get help with Medicare options. Once you have decided whether you want to join, contact the plan(s) you are interested in to find out more information and to enroll. After you enroll, you will get a membership card and other plan materials. The plan lets you know when your coverage begins.

See How do I join a Medicare drug plan? for more information on how to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan (including by paper application, on the plan's website, on Medicare's website, or over the telephone).

Special Rules for People with End-Stage Renal Disease
If you have End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and you are in the Original Medicare Plan, you may join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D), but you usually can't join a Medicare Advantage Plan. However, if you are already in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can stay in it or join another plan offered by the same company. If you've had a successful kidney transplant, you may be able to join a Medicare Advantage Plan.

In 2020, if you have ESRD and a Medicare Advantage Plan and the plan leaves Medicare or no longer provides coverage in your area, you have a one-time right to join another Medicare Advantage Plan. You don't have to use your one-time right to join a new plan immediately. If you change directly to the Original Medicare Plan after your plan leaves or stops providing coverage, you will still have a one-time right to join a Medicare Advantage Plan at a later date as long as the plan you choose is accepting new members.

However the ESRD rule is changing. Starting in 2021, people with End-Stage Renal Disease can join Medicare Advantage plans without these restrictions. Read more on this site.

Note: If you have ESRD and Original Medicare, you may join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

You may also be able to join a Medicare Special Needs Plan for people with ESRD if one is available in your area. For more information, visit www.medicare.gov and view the booklet "Medicare Coverage of Kidney Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Services." To compare dialysis facilities in your area, visit www.medicare.gov on the web. Select "Search Tools" at the top of the page. Then select "Compare Dialysis Facilities in Your Area." Or, call 1-800-MEDICARE
(1-800-633-4227) for more information about ESRD and Medicare plans. TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048.

(Primary Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Medicare and You Handbook. This content may have been enhanced by this site to include further examples, explanations, and links.)