Don't Miss the Start of Medicare's Open Enrollment
A critical Medicare window opens tomorrow...
Every year, October 15 is the start of Medicare's open-enrollment period, which runs through December 7.
Open enrollment is the time each year when folks can make changes to their Medicare plans...
For example, you can change from original Medicare to a private-insurance Medicare Advantage plan or vice versa. If you already have an Advantage plan, you can switch to another Advantage plan. You can also add Part D (prescription drug coverage) or opt into another prescription plan.
The only thing you can't do is opt into a Medigap plan if you already have Medicare. You can only do that at the time of initial enrollment.
Medicare enrollment is something most Americans have to face around the age of 65, unless they still work and prefer to keep their health insurance through their employer.
But navigating Medicare is one of the most confusing financial decisions Americans will have to make...
Here in the U.S., Medicare is federal health insurance for people 65 and over, younger folks with certain disabilities, and those with end-stage renal disease.
Today, we'll provide an overview of Medicare plans and supplemental coverage that you'll want to consider during this open-enrollment period...
There are four different types of Medicare plans:
Part A: This version of traditional Medicare covers only hospital costs and care, including drugs you take while in a hospital.
Part B: This version of traditional Medicare covers everything from Part A as well as doctors' visits, outpatient care, medical equipment, ambulance services, and similar services.
Part C: Also known as Advantage Plans, this plan combines Parts A and B through a private insurance company. You enroll in a plan through a company like a Health Maintenance Organization ("HMO") or Preferred Provider Organization ("PPO"), which manages your coverage.
Part D: This version of traditional Medicare covers only prescription drugs.
You can select as many of the plans as you'd like. (But remember... there is a copay for each.) Most folks opt to receive Parts A and B to cover their hospital and doctors' visits. Some get A, B, and the additional benefit of D to receive prescription-drug coverage as well.
Many seniors also buy two other insurance products: a Medicare Supplemental plan sold by insurance companies and a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, or PDP. Medicare Supplemental is often called Medigap because it tries to fill in the "gaps" of your regular Medicare coverage. A PDP provides prescription-drug coverage only.
Around the time you turn 65, you have a seven-month period around your birthday in which you need to sign up for Medicare, known as the initial enrollment period. Say you turn 65 on June 1... Based on your birthday, you have from March 1 through October 1 to enroll. Mark it on your calendar. Because if you miss your October 1 deadline, you could face some big fines.
Missing the enrollment deadline for Part A results in a flat 10% penalty that you pay for twice the number of years you neglected to sign up. So if you put it off for two years, you pay 10% of the plan's premium for four years.
Missing the enrollment deadline for Part B is a penalty that adds 10% for each 12-month period you put off signing up – but you pay it for as long as you are on Medicare. So put it off for two years, you'll be paying a penalty worth 20% of the plan's premium for the rest of your life.
Once you've signed up for Medicare, you might find it's not meeting your needs. For example, you might have started a prescription that you didn't need before you were using Medicare. So now you've realized you need a drug plan. Well, the open-enrollment period is an opportunity to add that coverage.
Your health needs and the costs of different plans can vary year to year. If you haven't shopped around to make sure your plan is still the best for both price and coverage, now is the time to do that.
You can read a guide to enrollment rules here. And you can check out your different Medicare options and find a plan that works for you here.
Health care costs are among our biggest expenses as we age. You want to make sure you're getting what you need for the best price available.
Senior Wealth Manager Chris Gilmor, CFP®, from Stansberry Asset Management ("SAM"), recently hosted an educational webinar covering Medicare, Medigap, and long-term care planning to help you better understand them.
SAM, a registered investment advisory firm – separate from the publishing business, Stansberry Research, that I work for – uses our research and ideas along with other sources to help manage individual client portfolios.
In this session, Chris covers...
- The strengths and weaknesses of Medicare and what Parts A, B, C, and D mean for your coverage and costs.
- What supplemental insurance can (and can't) do for you, and how to evaluate whether it's the right fit.
- What long-term care is, the coverage options available, and the role it can play in protecting your health and wealth over time.
You'll walk away with clear insights to make more informed decisions for yourself and your family.
If you're getting ready to sign up for Medicare for the first time or you're already on it and deciding what changes you need to make, this is a must-watch.
Click here so you don't miss it.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Want to be healthy at 70? Cut these foods.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 14, 2025
Disclosure: Stansberry Asset Management ("SAM") is a Registered Investment Adviser with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. File number: 801-107061. Such registration does not imply any level of skill or training. Under no circumstances should this report or any information herein be construed as investment advice, or as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or other financial instruments. For more information on SAM, please visit here.
Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, LLC ("Stansberry Research") is not a current client or investor of SAM. SAM provides cash compensation to Stansberry Research for Stansberry Research's advisory client solicitation services for the benefit of SAM. Material conflicts of interest may exist due to Stansberry Research's economic interest in soliciting clients for SAM. Certain Stansberry Research personnel may also have limited rights and interests relating to one or more parent entities of SAM.
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