In general, once you’re enrolled in Medicare (a national health insurance program), you don’t need to do anything to renew your coverage every year. Your coverage should automatically renew every year. This is true for Medicare prescription drug plan, Original Medicare, and Medicare Advantage plan.
However, there are some exceptions where you’ll need to take some steps to renew your coverage. Some situations include:
- Medicare brings to a close its contract with your plan;
- Your plan reduces its service area;
- Your plan leaves the Medicare program in the middle of the year;
- Your plan doesn’t renew its Medicare contract for the next year.
Every year, Medicare’s annual enrollment period (AEP) is October 15 – December 7.
We recommend that you compare plans annually to ensure it still meets your health needs and budget.