Medicare Part D Open Enrollment: Make Changes to Your Medicare Drug Plans

The last six weeks of each calendar year is the period of time known to Medicare beneficiaries as the Medicare open enrollment cycle. This means from November 15th to December 31st of each year, recipients of Medicare can make changes to their plans and see those changes take place on January 10th of the following calendar year.

Recipients of Medicare have the option of going with traditional Medicare only, a supplemental Medicare policy or adding pharmaceutical drug coverage.

If you are happy with your current coverage, no action is required and the plan you currently have will remain active through the next year.

Medicare experts say it is best to make any changes you intend to make as soon as possible. This is to prevent the chance that your changes are not up-to-date the next year and you face difficulties at the pharmacy counter. In other words, the faster you can make your decision, the better.

It is recommended that each and every Medicare recipient carefully review all options. Take a close look at various plan choices to find the best option and for you and your family. If you don't want to change anything then you have nothing to do. If you do, like mentioned earlier, do them as quickly as possible to avoid delays and confusion.

Here are some of the ways you can make changes if you choose to do so:

- Ask the representative from the plan you have chosen to complete a paper application for you or to assist you in enrolling on the Internet. If you cannot reach your personal representative, you can call the toll-free number for the company and get assistance enrolling by telephone.

- You can also enroll online at Medicare's official website or by calling Medicare directly and get enrolled by phone.

When you enroll, you will have to provide your complete name and physical address, your personal social security number (SSN), your email address (if applicable), the information on your Medicare membership card, information for an emergency contact and information about your residence (if you live in a nursing home or senior care facility).

A few weeks after you complete your application and enrollment, you will get a packet from the company managing your plan. It will include your membership card, a plan handbook, a prescription and physician list, the appeal process instructions and other information.