Income limits and how to apply, written for where you live.
All 50 statesWhich Medicare is right for you?
Answer seven questions and find out which setup fits you, which enrollment doors are still open, and exactly how to get through them. Almost nobody is told that you get six months to buy a Medicare supplement, once, and then the door shuts for good.
Where are you with Medicare right now?
Your answer changes which doors are still open to you.
What the screen gives back
Which one fits you
A straight answer based on your situation and what you told us matters, not a list of 47 plans for you to sort yourself.
Which doors are still open
Your one-time window to buy a supplement, your 12-month trial right if you have one, and your state's actual rule.
Exactly how to get it
The real steps, in order, with the deadlines. And if you would rather not do it alone, someone can enroll you at no cost.
Three ways people get stuck without knowing
Switching in October and being declined a supplement
Open enrollment lets you leave Advantage. It gives you no right to buy a supplement. Those are two different doors, and only one of them opens in October. Get an approval in writing before you drop anything.
Assuming the supplement window comes back every year
It lasts 6 months, happens once, and does not come back. After that, in most states, an insurer can review your health and say no.
Paying the premium when you did not have to
Medicare Savings Programs pay the $202.90 a month outright and enroll year-round. Roughly 43% of the people who qualify are not enrolled.
Which is better, Medicare Advantage or Original Medicare?
Nobody can answer that in the abstract, and any site that gives you a confident one-word answer is selling something. Which one wins depends on health nobody can predict. So this tool answers a different question, and it is the one with a real answer: which of the two doors is open to you, and what date does it close. Here is the trade. Original Medicare plus a supplement gives you predictable costs and almost any doctor in the country, but the supplement is a separate premium and there are only certain months when you can buy one freely. Medicare Advantage usually costs nothing extra each month and bundles extras, but it uses a network, it often makes you get approval before care, and in most states you cannot simply switch back later.
What is the Medigap Open Enrollment Period, and why does everyone talk about it?
It is a one-time, 6-month window that starts the first day of the first month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During it, any insurer must sell you any Medigap policy they offer, at their normal price, no matter what your health history is. Outside it, in most states, insurers can review your health and either decline you or charge you more. The part that catches people is that this window happens once and does not come back. It is not annual. If you are still working past 65 and delayed Part B, that is good news here: your window has not been used up, it simply has not started yet.
I have Medicare Advantage. Can I switch back to Original Medicare?
You can leave a Medicare Advantage plan during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 to December 7, or during Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, January 1 to March 31. But here is the part that is almost never said out loud, and it is the single most important sentence on this page: leaving your Advantage plan moves your Medicare, and it does NOT give you any right to buy a supplement. Those are two different doors, and only one of them opens in October. In most states an insurer can review your health history and turn you down. People switch first, get declined a supplement, and end up on Original Medicare with no out-of-pocket maximum at all. If you want a supplement, get it approved in writing FIRST, then drop the Advantage plan.
What is the 12-month trial right?
It is the broadest guaranteed right in federal Medigap law and most people who have it never hear about it. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first became eligible at 65, and it is your first Advantage plan, you have 12 months to change your mind. Within that window you can drop the plan, go back to Original Medicare, and buy any Medigap policy from any company with no health questions asked. At month thirteen it is gone permanently. This tool computes exactly how many days you have left.
Is there a way to not pay the Part B premium at all?
Yes, if your income is under the limits, and check it before you pick any plan. Medicare Savings Programs pay your $202.90 Part B premium every month, and they take applications all year instead of only during a window. About 43% of the people who qualify are not signed up, mostly because nobody ever told them the program exists. Qualifying also changes which kind of plan makes sense for you. That is why this tool asks about income before it says a word about plans.
If I qualify for help with my premium, should I still buy a supplement?
Usually no, and this is where the standard advice online is wrong for you. If you qualify for QMB, the program already pays your Part A and Part B deductibles and coinsurance. That is exactly what a supplement is built to pay. You would be buying something you already have, and selling a supplement to someone on Medicaid is generally against the law. Nearly every "Advantage vs Medigap" article is written for someone with a higher income, and it quietly gives this group bad advice.