Why don't more people take advantage of the "5-Star" Medicare plan Special Enrollment Period?

Limited plan availability. "5 Star" Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans are available only in a few areas across the country. Currently, the only "5 Star" stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) offered in 2014 is the GHI EmblemHealth Medicare Prescription Drug Plan available statewide in New York.

The only available 5-Star 2014 Medicare Advantage plans include:

CDPHP Universal Benefits PPO plans in New York.
Gundersen Health HMO Plans offered in select counties in IA and WI.
HealthSpring of Florida HMO, HMO-SNP and HMO-POS plans in select FL counties.
Kaiser Foundation Cost plan available in select counties in DC, MD, VA.
Kaiser Foundation HMO, HMO-SNP and HMO-POS plans in CA, CO, HI, OR and WA.
KS Plan Administrator KelseyCare HMO and HMO-POS plans in TX.
Providence Health HMO and HMO-POS plans offered in select counties in OR and WA.

So a 5-star Medicare Advantage plan may be available to you if you live in a specific county located in: California (30 counties), Colorado (17 counties), the District of Columbia, Florida (4 counties), Hawaii (3 counties), Iowa (5 counties), Maryland (11 counties), New York (24 counties), Oregon (10 counties), Texas (4 counties), Virginia (9 counties), Washington (4 counties), or Wisconsin (11 counties). And a 5-star stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan is available statewide in New York.

We optimistically expect the number of 5-star rated Medicare plans to increase every year. But we actually have fewer 5-star Medicare plans this year as compared to the 5-star plans available in 2013.

What is the 5-Star Special Enrollment Period?

Special Enrollment Periods allow you to change Medicare plans outside of the annual Open Enrollment Period (October 15th through December 7th) and are granted only for exceptional reasons. You can click here to read more about Special Enrollment Periods. One type of relatively new Special Enrollment Period that is available in a few areas of the country is the 5-star Special Enrollment Period. As discussed above, the 5-Star Special Enrollment Period allows you to change enrollment once a year to a Medicare plan with a 5-star quality rating. You can click here to read about the 5-star Special Enrollment Period.