Co-Founder, TermInsuranceBrokers.com, Goldenzweig Financial Group, Las Vegas, Nevada
In a way, yes. What's actually occurring is you're leaving Medicare Advantage to go back to Original Medicare (Parts A & B) and adding a Medigap plan to that to cover the 20% of expenses that Original Medicare does not.
During the annual enrollment period (AEP - October 15-December 7), you would apply for a Medigap plan noting to the carrier your intent to disenroll from the Medicare Advantage plan (you can't have both unfortunately). The effective date for the coverage would be set up as January 1 of the following year because your Medicare Advantage plan is set up as a one-year contract providing coverage from January 1-December 31 for the year you enrolled for.
If it's your first year in a Medicare Advantage plan and you want to go back to Original Medicare, you will have a guaranteed-issue right (via a "trial right" when it's your first time in an MA plan) to secure any Medigap plan and cannot be declined for any medical reasons.
Another "guaranteed-issue" / "trial right" situation is if you dropped a Medigap plan to go to Medicare Advantage (for the first time and you've been in the plan for less than one year) and want to go back to Medigap, you can secure the Medigap policy you had before you joined the Medicare Advantage Plan, if the same insurance company you had before still offers it. If your prior carrier your former Medigap policy was through no longer offers that same plan, you can buy either a plan A, B, C, F, K, or L from any insurance company offering coverage in your area.
For either "trial right" scenarios, it can be done at any point during the year (not just during AEP) as early as 60 days before the date your Medicare Advantage coverage will terminate and no later than 63 days after it ends.
It's best to speak with an independent broker who can shop the case for you among many carriers to make sure you're getting the desired Medigap plan at the lowest possible cost since they're standardized (the coverage is the same for a given Medigap plan regardless of who it's through - the only difference being price). Captive agents can only offer plans from the carrier work they work for.
I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help with your Medicare insurance coverage, including plan quotes and comparisons for Medigap plans, and if you have any other questions. Thanks very much.
You can disenroll from your Medicare Advantage Plan and switch back to Original Medicare from January 1 thru February 14 of each year. You will need to get a Medicare Supplement and Prescription Drug Plan. If you have serious health conditions you may not be qualify for a Medicare Supplement. Depending on the pre-existing condition you could be denied coverage or have to pay a much higher premium because of the pre-existing condition. It would be very important to talk with a qualified agent before you make your decision to disenroll from your Medicare Advantage Plan.
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During the annual enrollment period (AEP - October 15-December 7), you would apply for a Medigap plan noting to the carrier your intent to disenroll from the Medicare Advantage plan (you can't have both unfortunately). The effective date for the coverage would be set up as January 1 of the following year because your Medicare Advantage plan is set up as a one-year contract providing coverage from January 1-December 31 for the year you enrolled for.
If it's your first year in a Medicare Advantage plan and you want to go back to Original Medicare, you will have a guaranteed-issue right (via a "trial right" when it's your first time in an MA plan) to secure any Medigap plan and cannot be declined for any medical reasons.
Another "guaranteed-issue" / "trial right" situation is if you dropped a Medigap plan to go to Medicare Advantage (for the first time and you've been in the plan for less than one year) and want to go back to Medigap, you can secure the Medigap policy you had before you joined the Medicare Advantage Plan, if the same insurance company you had before still offers it. If your prior carrier your former Medigap policy was through no longer offers that same plan, you can buy either a plan A, B, C, F, K, or L from any insurance company offering coverage in your area.
For either "trial right" scenarios, it can be done at any point during the year (not just during AEP) as early as 60 days before the date your Medicare Advantage coverage will terminate and no later than 63 days after it ends.
It's best to speak with an independent broker who can shop the case for you among many carriers to make sure you're getting the desired Medigap plan at the lowest possible cost since they're standardized (the coverage is the same for a given Medigap plan regardless of who it's through - the only difference being price). Captive agents can only offer plans from the carrier work they work for.
I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help with your Medicare insurance coverage, including plan quotes and comparisons for Medigap plans, and if you have any other questions. Thanks very much.