Each plan year, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan carriers have the option of not renewing their Medicare contract and their Medicare plans can be discontinued across the country or in a specific service area (State or ZIP Code).

This means that, if a 2015 Medicare plan provider does not offer any alternative plans for their existing members - then the 2015 members of the discontinued Medicare plan must find a new Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan - or be without 2016 Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan coverage.

The following chart shows examples of 2015 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans that will no longer be available in 2016, along with the number of people who will be affected:

 

What about 2016 Medicare Advantage plan mergers and terminations?
A large number of Medicare Advantage plan members will find that their 2015 Medicare Advantage plan will not be offered in 2016.  And many counties across the country will see significant changes in their Medicare Advantage plan landscape. The counties seeing the largest decrease of 2016 Medicare Advantage plans are found in: Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico.  As an example, Twenty (20) of the 81 Medicare Advantage plans currently available Richmond County, New York are no longer offered in 2016. You can click here to read more about county-level changes in the available Medicare Advantage plans. You can also see more 2016 Medicare Advantage plan changes using our MA-Compare tool found here: MA-Compare.com/2016.

What if your 2015 Medicare Part D plan or Medicare Advantage plan is not offered in 2016?
If your Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D plan is discontinued in 2016, you may choose to join a new Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D plan during the annual Open Enrollment Period.

However, if you do not enroll in a new Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D plan by December 7th, you will be provided a Special Enrollment Period to join a 2016 Medicare plan from December 8, 2015 through February 28, 2016 (also called the Service Area Reduction Special Enrollment Period or SAR SEP).

Remember, if your current Medicare plan is discontinued next year, your 2015 Medicare prescription drug coverage will end on December 31, 2015.

If you wait until January to enroll in a 2016 plan, your new prescription drug coverage will take effect on February 1st, so you will have no prescription drug coverage for the month of January, and it continues that if you wait until February to enroll in a 2016 plan, your coverage will take effect on March 1st, so you will have no prescription drug coverage for January or February, 2016.

Our PDP-Compare and MA-Compare tools show the 2015 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage plans (MAs or MAPDs) across the country that will be merged, discontinued, or added in 2016.