Advantage or Supplement?
Six questions about your doctors, your travel and your budget. Tells you which side of the Medicare fork actually fits — and why.
Find my plan typeFree tool
When can I enroll?
Enter your date of birth. You'll get your exact Initial Enrollment Period, the six-month Medigap window that never comes back, and the two annual windows that matter after that.
All dates are calculated in your browser from the date you enter. Nothing is transmitted or stored.
These are the standard federal windows. Special Enrollment Periods triggered by circumstances — moving, losing coverage, qualifying for Extra Help, a plan leaving your area — sit on top of them and are not shown here. If something in your situation is unusual, the dates below are a starting point rather than the final word.
The windows, and what happens if you miss them
Initial Enrollment Period — seven months, once
Three months before the month you turn 65, the month itself, and three months after. Enroll in the first three months and coverage starts on the first day of your birthday month. Enroll during or after your birthday month and coverage is delayed — which is the quiet reason to move early rather than on the deadline.
One oddity worth knowing: if you were born on the first of a month, Medicare treats you as turning 65 the previous month, and every window shifts a month earlier. The calculator above handles that.
Medigap open enrollment — six months, and it never returns
This is the single most consequential window in Medicare and the one people most often walk past. It starts the first day of the month you are both 65 and enrolled in Part B, and runs six months. Inside it, no carrier can refuse you a Medicare Supplement or charge you more because of your health.
Outside it, Arizona carriers can medically underwrite. A diagnosis between now and then can close a door that is standing open today. If a Supplement is anywhere in your thinking, this is the deadline that matters.
The penalties, plainly
- Part B. 10% added to your premium for every full 12 months you could have had Part B and did not — for as long as you have Medicare. Not for a year. Permanently.
- Part D. 1% of the national base premium for every month without creditable drug coverage after your IEP, added permanently once you do enroll.
Both are waived if you were covered by an employer group plan through active employment — which is why the question above matters. If that applies to you, your clock starts when that coverage ends, not at 65.
The two annual windows
- Annual Enrollment Period, 15 October – 7 December. Change anything: Advantage plan, drug plan, or back to Original Medicare. Changes take effect 1 January.
- Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, 1 January – 31 March. If you are on an Advantage plan, one switch to a different Advantage plan or back to Original Medicare. Not available if you are on Original Medicare.
Other tools
While you're here.
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2 min -
3 min Annual Cost Estimator
Compare what a year on a Medicare Advantage plan versus a Supplement plus Part D would realistically cost you — premiums, deductibles and expected visits included.
Estimate my year -
1 min IRMAA Surcharge Estimator
Higher income means a surcharge on Part B and Part D. See which bracket your tax return puts you in before the letter arrives.
Check my bracket
Next step
Let’s look at your actual options.
One conversation, no cost, no obligation. Bring your prescription list and your doctors — that is all it takes to do real work. You’ll speak to Brian Penner directly.