Medicare annual enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, and it is your yearly chance to make sure your coverage still fits the way you live in Michigan. During these weeks you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. The plan must get your request by December 7 for coverage that starts January 1. This checklist works the same in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw, Traverse City, or Marquette.
This article is educational. Instant Health Help is a licensed health insurance agency, and our agent, Lobsang Rivas, is licensed in Michigan. We are not Medicare, CMS, Social Security, or an insurance company, and we do not quote prices or name plans here. Check official dates on Medicare.gov.
The short answer
- Read your Annual Notice of Change and decide whether anything in it affects you.
- Check how your coverage works where you actually spend your time, including winters away and trips across a state line or into Canada.
- Talk to your benefits office first if you have retiree or union coverage.
Step 1: Read your Annual Notice of Change
Your plan mails it each fall. It lists what changes for next year. Look at the parts that touch your life: your doctors and hospitals, your prescriptions and pharmacy, and any new rules such as prior authorization or referrals. If nothing affects you, staying put can be fine. If something does, compare plans in Medicare.gov Plan Finder.
Step 2: Spend winters in Florida, Arizona, or Texas?
Plenty of Michigan retirees head south for part of the year. Medicare.gov says that if you live in another state for part of the year, check whether the plan will cover you there. Here is the general difference Medicare.gov describes:
- Original Medicare lets you use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the U.S.
- Medicare Advantage plans may require you to use doctors who are in the plan’s network and service area for non-emergency care. Some plans cover non-emergency care out of network, but it may cost more.
Medicare.gov also says you must live in a plan’s service area to join it, so your plan choices follow your Michigan home address. Ask the plan exactly how it handles routine care, prescriptions, and follow-up visits while you are away.
Step 3: Live near a state line or cross into Canada?
Ohio, Indiana, or Wisconsin. If you live in Monroe or Lenawee County and see doctors in Toledo, live in southwest Michigan and use doctors in Indiana, or live in the Upper Peninsula near Wisconsin, check whether those offices are in your plan’s network. If you live across the line in Ohio, Indiana, or Wisconsin, our agent is not licensed there, so use Medicare.gov or that state’s SHIP counselors through SHIP’s national locator.
Canada. If you cross to Windsor or Sarnia, know the rule before you go. Medicare.gov says Original Medicare generally doesn’t cover medical care outside the U.S., and Medicare Advantage plans generally don’t either, though some offer an extra benefit for emergency and urgently needed care while traveling outside the U.S. Some Medigap policies cover emergency care outside the U.S. Ask before you rely on any of it. See Medicare.gov’s Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage comparison.
Step 4: Retiree or union coverage
Many Michiganders have health coverage from a former employer or union, such as an automaker, a school district, or a public employer. Medicare.gov says that if you have other health insurance or drug coverage, talk to your benefits administrator before you join a plan or make any change. Some retiree plans have their own rules about Medicare, so ask before you change anything.
Step 5: Check for help with costs
Medicare Savings Programs. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says these programs may help pay Medicare premiums, coinsurance, and deductibles, depending on your income, and that there is an asset limit. Medicare.gov says that even if you don’t think you qualify, you should still apply. You can apply through MI Bridges or your local MDHHS office. See the MDHHS Medicare Savings Programs page.
Extra Help. Medicare.gov describes Extra Help as a program that helps people with limited income and resources pay Part D costs. Some people get it automatically, and others apply through Social Security. See Medicare.gov’s help with drug costs page.
Step 6: Hang up on cold calls
Medicare.gov says Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home, and it advises not to join a Medicare health or drug plan over the phone unless you called and asked for help. Don’t give your Medicare Number to anyone who calls you out of the blue. To report something suspicious, call 1-800-MEDICARE or see Medicare.gov’s fraud page.
Missed something? Two more chances to know about
- Medicare Advantage open enrollment, January 1 to March 31. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or go back to Original Medicare.
- Moving. Medicare.gov says that if you move out of your plan’s service area, your chance to switch starts when you move and lasts for 2 full months after. See Medicare’s Special Enrollment Periods page.
Where to get unbiased help in Michigan
Michigan’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) describes itself as an unbiased resource that doesn’t sell Medicare plans. Call 1-800-803-7174, the state’s MI Options line, to connect with a local certified counselor, or see the Michigan SHIP page.
Under 65?
If a spouse or family member does not have Medicare yet, Michigan residents shop for Marketplace plans on HealthCare.gov, and open enrollment runs November 1 to January 15. See our Michigan open enrollment guide.
How we help
We help Michigan residents with Medicare by phone and online, in English or Spanish. Learn more on our Michigan health insurance help page. We look at your doctors, prescriptions, pharmacy, ZIP code, where you spend the winter, and any retiree coverage, explain the options in plain English, and leave the decision to you. If you are helping a parent, you are welcome on the call too.
Want a second set of eyes before December 7?
Have your Medicare card, your Annual Notice of Change, your drug list, and your doctors’ names ready, and we can walk through it together.
Call (321) 315-0054 | agent@inshh.com
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 10 organizations which offer 489 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays. Instant Health Help is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.
Featured photo: Mackinac Bridge from the air by Justin Billau, CC BY 2.0, cropped with text added.
