Reminder: The Special Enrollment Period (SAR SEP) for people who were enrolled in discontinued Medicare plans ends February 29th

If your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan (PDP) or Medicare Advantage plan (MA or MADP) was discontinued at the end of 2015 (that is, your Medicare plan did not renew its contract for 2016 or the plan had a service area reduction), you are granted a Special Enrollment Period (or SEP) to join a 2016 Medicare plan through February 29th. This is known as the Service Area Reduction Special Enrollment Period (SAR SEP).

Medicare Plan Termination vs. Medicare Plan Consolidation
However, this Special Enrollment Period is only for people previously enrolled in a “discontinued” Medicare plans and is not available to people with Medicare plans that were “consolidated” or merged into another Medicare plan.

Annual Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan changes and 2015/2016 Medicare plan "crosswalks" (plan reassignments) can be viewed in our PDP-Compare and MA-Compare tools.

You can click here to read more about 2015 Medicare Part D plans that were discontinued or terminated in 2016.

What happens if you miss the SAR SEP deadline?
Important: If your 2015 Medicare plan was discontinued in 2016 and you do not join a Medicare plan before the end of the SAR SEP, you will be without Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan coverage for the remainder of the year - unless you can take advantage of some other Special Enrollment Period allowing your to join a 2016 Medicare plan outside the annual Open Enrollment Period.

To learn more...
You can also see our Frequently Asked Question, "Special Enrollment Period for Service Area Reduction (SAR SEP): When your Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan is cancelled or not offered next year." on this site or call a Medicare representative at 1-800-633-4227.