Medicare Annual Enrollment Period in Florida: What Brevard Residents Should Know

Quick answer: The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period, also called Medicare Open Enrollment, runs October 15 to December 7 every year. Your plan must get your enrollment request by December 7, and the change takes effect January 1 (Medicare.gov). It’s the window for changing Medicare Advantage and Part D drug coverage, not for buying or switching a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy. The document that should drive your decision is the Annual Notice of Change your plan sends in September.

Every fall, Brevard County mailboxes fill up with Medicare advertising. Some of it implies October is the time to swap a Medicare Supplement policy. It isn’t. The fall window is for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans, and Medigap runs on its own rules. The mail that matters more than any ad is the Annual Notice of Change from your current plan, because it tells you what that plan will look like on January 1.

This page is written for Brevard County and Space Coast residents who already have Medicare. The dates are federal, so they’re the same in Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Titusville as anywhere else. If you’re newer to Medicare, our Medicare support overview and Medicare guide for Brevard County are the places to start.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 9 organizations which offer 35 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.

What You Can Change Between October 15 and December 7

The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) is the yearly window for changing your Medicare coverage for the following year. Federal regulation sets it at October 15 through December 7 (42 CFR 422.62). Medicare.gov adds that “the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7,” so it’s a received-by date, not a postmark date (Medicare.gov).

Per Medicare.gov, during AEP you can:

1. Change your Medicare Advantage plan. Join, drop, or switch to another Medicare Advantage plan, with or without drug coverage. Medicare describes Medicare Advantage as “a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare for your health and drug coverage” (Medicare.gov).
2. Change your drug plan. If you’re in Original Medicare, join, drop, or switch a standalone Medicare drug plan (Part D).
3. Change how you get coverage. Switch from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage, or back. If you move to Original Medicare, you can pick a drug plan at the same time (42 CFR 422.62).

Every item on that list is about Medicare Advantage or Part D. Medigap isn’t on it.

If your Medicare Advantage plan is still being offered next year and you’re comfortable with how it’ll look, you don’t have to do anything to keep it; federal rules treat your enrollment as continuing until you change it or the plan is discontinued (42 CFR 422.66(e)). A discontinued plan is different. Federal rules give you a special election period (SEP), a window outside the regular dates, when your Medicare Advantage plan is discontinued where you live or you’ve been notified that it will be (42 CFR 422.62). Treat that notice as a deadline, not an FYI.

The Fall Window Is Not First-Time Sign-Up at 65

AEP is for changing coverage you already have. If you’re signing up for the first time, your window is the Initial Enrollment Period (IEP), which generally starts 3 months before the month you turn 65 and ends 3 months after it (Medicare.gov), so October 15 to December 7 isn’t your controlling date.

Open Enrollment Is Not a Medigap Window

Medigap is “extra insurance you may be able to buy from a private company that helps pay your share of costs in Original Medicare” (Medicare.gov). It works alongside Original Medicare, not Medicare Advantage, and the fall window doesn’t govern when you can buy it.

Medicare.gov calls the one-time, six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which starts the first day of the month you’re 65 or older and signed up for Part B, the best time to buy. It says that outside that period, unless you have a guaranteed issue right, “there’s no federal guarantee that an insurance company will sell you a Medigap policy,” and one you can buy “may cost more due to past or present health problems” (Medicare.gov). Florida’s Medigap statutes (Fla. Stat. 627.671-627.675) don’t add a birthday rule or a yearly window to switch supplements.

In October, that means:

• A mailer suggesting you can swap supplements every fall is describing something AEP doesn’t do.
• If you’re staying in Medicare Advantage, Medigap isn’t an add-on. In Medicare.gov’s words, “It’s illegal for someone to sell you a Medigap policy if you have a Medicare Advantage Plan” (Medicare.gov).
• If you’re leaving Medicare Advantage and want a supplement, settle the supplement first. AEP handles the Medicare switch, not whether an insurance company will sell you a policy.

January to March Is One Change for Medicare Advantage Members

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP) runs January 1 to March 31. Under 42 CFR 422.62, a person enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan “may make an election once during the first 3 months of the year to enroll in another MA plan or disenroll to obtain Original Medicare,” and can pair that with joining or dropping a Part D plan.

Next to AEP, it differs in three ways:

• Who can use it. MA OEP is only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. If you’re in Original Medicare with a standalone drug plan, you can’t use it to join Medicare Advantage or change drug plans.
• How many changes. MA OEP allows one. The regulation says that one-change limit doesn’t apply to changes made during AEP (42 CFR 422.62).
• What you can do. Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or leave Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare and add a drug plan if you want one.

It’s a way to correct a fall choice that didn’t fit, with one Florida caveat. Leaving a Medicare Advantage plan in this window isn’t, by itself, one of the situations the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation lists as guaranteeing you a Medigap policy (Florida OIR Medigap FAQ, Q8). Confirm you can get a supplement before you drop the plan.

Read Your Annual Notice of Change Before October 15

The Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) “includes any changes in coverage, costs, and more that will be effective in January.” Medicare.gov says you should get it in September, and if you don’t, to contact your plan (Medicare.gov). Federal rules require Medicare Advantage and Part D plans to notify enrollees of January 1 changes at least 15 days before AEP begins, which means by September 30 (42 CFR 422.111 and 42 CFR 423.128).

This is the document that should drive your fall decision. Advertising describes plans you don’t have. The ANOC describes the one you do, as it’ll be on January 1. A drug you take could move to a higher cost tier, a doctor could leave the network, or your premium and copays could shift. Medicare.gov’s advice is to “review any changes to decide whether the plan will continue to meet your needs in the next year.”

Check five things:

1. Costs. The premium, the deductible, and the copays or coinsurance for the services you use.
2. Drugs. Whether each drug you take is still on the formulary, the plan’s list of covered drugs, and at what tier.
3. Network. Whether the doctors and hospitals you use are still in network, meaning contracted with the plan.
4. Service area. Whether the plan is still offered where you live.
5. Extra benefits. Any change to supplemental benefits you use, and the rules for qualifying.

If something in the notice changes how the plan works for you, October 15 to December 7 is your window.

What to Check for 2027 Part D and Supplemental Benefits

For 2027, the defined standard Part D deductible, the amount you pay before your plan starts sharing drug costs, is $700, and the annual out-of-pocket threshold is $2,400 (CMS CY 2027 Rate Announcement). CMS’s 2027 final rule codifies the Part D redesign, “eliminating the coverage gap phase, establishing a reduced annual out-of-pocket threshold, removing cost sharing for enrollees in the catastrophic phase” (CMS CY 2027 Final Rule fact sheet). Once you reach the threshold, you pay no cost sharing for covered drugs for the rest of the year. Your monthly premium doesn’t count toward it, because only your costs for covered drugs do (42 CFR 423.100, definition of incurred costs).

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan spreads your drug costs into monthly payments. If you participate, your Part D plan must automatically renew your participation for the next plan year and send a renewal notice after AEP ends but before the plan year ends (42 CFR 423.137). That renewal applies when you stay in the same plan. If you switch Part D plans during AEP, you can opt in with the new plan before its January 1 start date (42 CFR 423.137).

For 2027, Medicare Advantage plans must publicly post their eligibility criteria for Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI), extra benefits for people with certain chronic conditions. Supplemental-benefit debit cards must be limited to the specific plan year, and plans no longer have to send mid-year notices about unused supplemental benefits (CMS CY 2027 Final Rule fact sheet). Check your plan’s qualification rules yourself, and track your own supplemental benefit use.

Your Enrollment Window, Identified

If you’re not sure which deadline applies to you, we’ll walk through which window governs your next move and what your Annual Notice of Change says, in plain language and without pressure; how we approach Medicare guidance explains why, and our frequently asked questions cover the basics. The first step is simple: start a conversation about your Medicare options with Dixie Kuehn and the ThirdWave Benefits team.

This page provides general educational information about Medicare enrollment timing for Florida residents and is not legal, tax, or compliance advice; confirm the specifics for your situation. Dates and figures change; we verify current details at the time we work with you.

ThirdWave Benefits is a DBA of HF Group Benefits LLC, a licensed Florida insurance agency (license L109093, NPN 19545056). Dixie Kuehn holds Florida license P044689 (NPN 8774478), Life Including Variable Annuity & Health (2-15).

Sources

• Medicare.gov, Open Enrollment: https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/open-enrollment
• Medicare.gov, Your coverage options (Medicare Advantage and Medigap definitions): https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/get-more-coverage/your-coverage-options
• Medicare.gov, When can I sign up for Medicare?: https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/sign-up/when-can-i-sign-up-for-medicare
• Medicare.gov, When can I buy a Medigap policy?: https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/medigap/ready-to-buy/when
• Medicare.gov, Plan Annual Notice of Change (ANOC): https://www.medicare.gov/basics/forms-publications-mailings/mailings/costs-and-coverage/upcoming-plan-changes
• 42 CFR 422.62(a)(2)(iii)-(iv), (a)(3)(i) and (iii), (b)(1), Election of coverage under an MA plan: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-422.62
• 42 CFR 422.66(e)(1) and (e)(5), Coordination of enrollment and disenrollment (continuation of election): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-422.66
• 42 CFR 422.111(d)(2), Changes in rules (MA plans): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-422.111
• 42 CFR 423.128(g)(2), Changes in rules (Part D plans): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-423.128
• 42 CFR 423.100, Definitions (incurred costs): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-423.100
• 42 CFR 423.137(d)(1), (d)(9) and (d)(10), Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-423.137
• Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, 2026 Medigap Frequently Asked Questions, Q8: https://floir.gov/docs-sf/life-health-libraries/medicare-supplement/medigap-faqs-2026.pdf
• Fla. Stat. 627.671-627.675, Medicare Supplement Policies (Chapter 627, Part VIII): http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0627/0627PartVIIIContentsIndex.html
• CMS, CY 2027 Rate Announcement: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2027-announcement.pdf
• CMS, Contract Year 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule fact sheet: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/contract-year-2027-medicare-advantage-part-d-final-rule