If you’re on Medicare, you’ll be getting one or two Annual Notice of Change letters in your mail or email this September about your 2025 coverage and costs. You may be tempted to ignore what looks like junk, as nearly a third of recipients do , according to an eHealth survey. Don’t.
“So often, a person who is quite happy with their plan and doesn’t bother to look at their Annual Notice of Change then gets a nasty surprise in January” when the plan’s new costs and coverage kick in, says Danielle Roberts, author of 10 Costly Medicare Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make and founding partner of Boomer Benefits, which sells Medicare policies. What is an Annual Notice of Change An Annual Notice of Change from your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan or a private insurer’s Medicare Advantage plan lays out how much your premiums, deductibles and copays will differ in the year ahead and whether the plan will even be offered. ( Medigap plans don’t send these notices because they don’t change much year to year.
) An Annual Notice of Change from your Part D plan also says whether your prescriptions will be covered and if so, how much you’ll pay. A Medicare Advantage Notice of Change will tell you if your doctors and hospitals will remain in the plan’s network. While this information is always essential to make smart choices during Medicare’s eight-week Open Enrollment period (Oct.
15 – Dec. 7), experts say reading your Annual Notice of Change is especially i.