What is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period each fall?
Last updated Jul 19, 2026
Reviewed by Jason Burns, Editorial Steward
Published by Senior Direct Answers · Licensed under Citation License 1.0
Medicare Open Enrollment (the annual election period) runs every year from October 15 through December 7, with changes effective January 1. During it, anyone with Medicare can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D prescription drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Because plan premiums, networks, and drug formularies change each year, officials urge beneficiaries to compare plans annually at Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE.
What the government has said, on the record
“Medicare's Open Enrollment period is from October 15 through December 7, 2024, when people with Medicare can compare coverage options for 2025 to make sure that their health care coverage is right for them”
— Dr. Meena Seshamani, CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare; currently Maryland Secretary of Health, CMS 2024 Medicare Open Enrollment national kickoff call, official CMS transcript, 2024-10-10 (source)
Editor's note: Official CMS-published transcript of an agency stakeholder call, not congressional testimony. Year references "2024"/"2025" are cyclical; the Oct 15 - Dec 7 window recurs annually and is corroborated verbatim in GAO-21-482 p.8.
Who said this
Dr. Meena Seshamani — CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare; currently Maryland Secretary of Health (current).
Also asked as
- What is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period each fall — plain answer
- Definition of the Medicare Open Enrollment Period each fall.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18