Medicare Open Enrollment 2026: Key Dates, a Checklist, and How to Spot Scams

Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, 2026. What you can change, what to check first, a printable checklist, and the scams to watch for.

By Steady Neighbor Editorial Team · Updated · 8-minute read

The short answer

Medicare Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from Thursday, October 15, to Monday, December 7, 2026. You can switch between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage Plan, change Medicare Advantage Plans, or join, switch or drop a drug plan; changes start January 1, 2027. To keep your plan, you don't need to do anything. Medicare never calls to sell you anything, so hang up on anyone who does.

Every fall, people with Medicare get one main chance to change their health and drug plans for the next year. Here are the dates, what you can change, what to check before you decide, and the scams that show up every Open Enrollment season. At the bottom is a one-page checklist to print.

Everything here comes from Medicare’s own publications and the Federal Trade Commission. We explain the rules; we don’t sell insurance and we don’t recommend plans.

Key dates for 2026 and 2027

DateWhat happens
October 1–14, 2026Get ready. Read the notice from your plan about next year’s changes, then preview 2027 plans at Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
Thursday, October 15, 2026Open Enrollment begins.
Monday, December 7, 2026Open Enrollment ends. A new plan must get your request by this day.
Friday, January 1, 2027New coverage starts. If you kept your plan, its new costs and benefits start too.
January 1 – March 31, 2027Only for people in a Medicare Advantage Plan: one more chance to make one change.

The window is the same every year: October 15 to December 7.

What you can change during Open Enrollment

What you can do depends on the coverage you have now.

If you have…During Open Enrollment you can…
Original MedicareSwitch to a Medicare Advantage Plan. Join, drop or switch a Medicare drug plan.
A Medicare Advantage PlanJoin, drop or switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, with or without drug coverage (or add or drop drug coverage). Switch back to Original Medicare.

If you want to keep your plan

You don’t need to do anything. Your coverage continues automatically.

Plans can change their costs and benefits every year, though, and the changes start on January 1. So even if you’re happy with your plan, read what is changing before December 7.

How to check your coverage before December 7

  1. Find your plan’s “Annual Notice of Change.” If you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan or a drug plan, your plan mails it in September. It lists the changes in coverage and costs that start in January. Didn’t get one? Call your plan.
  2. Write down what matters to you: the medicines you take and their doses, your doctors and hospitals, and your pharmacy.
  3. Compare plans at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, Medicare’s official plan finder. You can compare health and drug plans side by side, enter your medicines and pharmacies, get an estimate of your out-of-pocket costs, see quality ratings, and check whether your doctors are in a plan’s network.
  4. Or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, including weekends. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.
  5. Want a person to go through it with you? Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) gives free, personalized, unbiased counseling. Find yours at shiphelp.org or call 877-839-2675.
  6. If you decide to change, the new plan must get your request by Monday, December 7. Your new coverage starts January 1. If the change doesn’t show in your Medicare.gov account within 10 days, contact the plan.

Where to get honest information

Around Open Enrollment, people with Medicare get a lot of mail and advertising from companies selling Medicare products. Medicare names three official sources of unbiased information:

  • Medicare.gov, the official U.S. government site for Medicare;
  • the “Medicare & You” handbook, which Medicare mails to all Medicare households in late September (it also comes in large print, braille and other formats, from Medicare.gov);
  • 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).

Medicare scams to watch for

Scammers get busier around Open Enrollment, the FTC warns, and they are after your money, your information, or both. They may sound professional and already know some of your personal details. These rules give them away:

If you hear or see…The truth
A call “from Medicare” asking you to confirm your Medicare numberMedicare only asks you to verify information if you contacted them first. Medicare never calls to sell you anything and never visits your home.
“You need a new Medicare card,” with a request for your number or a feeReal Medicare cards are free and mailed to you automatically.
Caller ID that says “Medicare”Caller ID can be faked. Hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE yourself.
A call from a plan you never contactedPlans can’t call you unless you’re already a member or you gave them permission.
A salesperson at your doorPlans can’t come to your home uninvited to sell anything.
“Pay your first premium now, by card, over the phone”Plans can’t ask for payment over the phone or online. The plan must send you a bill.
Cash or a big gift for joiningPlans can’t offer cash, or gifts worth more than $15, to get you to join.
“You have to join this plan or you won’t have coverage next year”That kind of pressure is against Medicare’s rules. Sign an enrollment form only when you’re ready to join.
A search ad or website that looks like Medicare.govScammers pay to appear at the top of search results and use look-alike addresses. Type Medicare.gov yourself, scroll past results marked “Ad” or “Sponsored,” and check that the address ends in .gov.

If you already gave your information

  1. Gave your Medicare number: call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and report it.
  2. Gave a bank or card number, or paid: call your bank using the number on the back of your card. Our guide on what to do if you gave information to a scammer walks through it.
  3. Gave your Social Security number: follow the steps in the same guide: IdentityTheft.gov and a free credit freeze.
  4. Watch your Medicare claims. A Medicare.gov account shows your Original Medicare claims as soon as they’re processed. Check the receipts and statements you get from your doctors and other providers for mistakes.
  5. Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
  6. Want help? Your local Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) helps people with Medicare and their families prevent, spot and report fraud, errors and abuse, at no charge. Find yours at smpresource.org or call 877-808-2468.

Joined a plan because of wrong or misleading information? Call 1-800-MEDICARE and explain what happened. Medicare’s call center can help with options for making changes during the year.

Missed December 7?

  • In a Medicare Advantage Plan: from January 1 to March 31, 2027, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan, or drop it and go back to Original Medicare (and join a drug plan). You can make only one change in this period. It takes effect the first day of the month after the plan gets your request.
  • In Original Medicare: that January–March window doesn’t let you switch to a Medicare Advantage Plan, join a drug plan, or switch drug plans.
  • After certain life events, such as moving, losing or changing your current coverage, getting Medicaid, or getting Extra Help with drug costs, you may get a Special Enrollment Period.
  • 5-star plans: if a Medicare Advantage Plan, Medicare Cost Plan or drug plan with an overall quality rating of 5 stars serves your area, you can join it once between December 8, 2026, and November 30, 2027.

Not sure what applies to you? Call 1-800-MEDICARE or your local SHIP.

Print it, tick the boxes, and keep it by the phone with your plan’s number on it.

More dates to keep

Social Security payment dates for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027 are in our Social Security payment schedule, with a calendar to print for each year.

From Steady Neighbor · https://steadyneighbor.com/money/medicare-open-enrollment/

Sources we used

About the author

Steady Neighbor Editorial Team: We write plain-English guides for older adults and the families who help them. Every step is checked against the official instructions from Microsoft, Apple and U.S. government agencies before a guide is published, and we link to the sources we used. How we write and check our guides.