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The deadline for Medicare Open Enrollment ends this Thursday, December 7th.
Medicare specialist Kathleen Sarmiento with South Florida's Alliance for Aging says the deadline affects millions of people already enrolled in Medicare who need to make changes.
Sarmiento explains, "if you miss the open enrollment deadline this week, your current plan will roll over to 2024."
First time enrollment in Medicare at age 65 is not affected by this open enrollment.
If you have questions, you can call 1-800-MEDICARE. That Medicare hotline is open 24-7 or you can go to Medicare.gov.
The General Enrollment Period for Original Medicare is January 1 through March 31 each year. You could apply during this time if you missed your first-time enrollment window.
But you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty.
Medicare Annual Enrollment is for those who already have Medicare to make coverage changes for the upcoming year, while Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment is only for people who are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. General Enrollment is for first-time enrollees.