Are your patients familiar with the Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP)?
While you’ve probably informed patients about Medicare Open Enrollment, you may have forgotten to talk to them about another important date, the disenrollment period.
The MADP helps beneficiaries because it allows them a 45-day period after enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan to decide if the plan is really right for them.
Use this guide to educate your patients about the MADP and ensure they understand the importance of choosing the right Medicare plan.
What is the MADP?
The MADP lasts from Jan. 1 through Feb. 14, and gives patients the opportunity to disenroll from Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private companies that contract with Medicare to provide beneficiaries with all of their Part A and Part B benefits.
During the disenrollment period, a beneficiary can switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare with or without a Prescription Drug Plan (PDP).
Original Medicare is managed by the federal government, and there’s generally a cost for each service.
Individuals cannot switch Medicare Part A plans, switch to a different PDP if their Medicare Advantage plan doesn’t have prescription drug coverage, or disenroll from their Medical Savings Account (MSA) during the MADP.
Why is the MADP important?
Medicare can be confusing for patients to understand, and sometimes they enroll in plans that aren’t right for them.
For example, a patient may have enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan only to find out his doctors aren’t in the plan’s network. Or, maybe he thought he was enrolling in a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan to supplement traditional Medicare.
The MADP gives beneficiaries the opportunity to switch to Original Medicare, which may work better for them (or be what they originally intended).
How does a patient disenroll from a Medicare Advantage plan?
There are three options for patients to disenroll from their Medicare Advantage plans.
Beneficiaries should use one of these disenrollment methods:
1. Call the plan
2. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227)
3. Enroll in a PDP, which automatically disenrolls them from the Medicare Advantage plan
It’s important to note that the effective date of disenrollment is the first day of the month following the date the disenrollment request is received.
Additionally, patients should enroll in a PDP as soon as possible following disenrollment from their Medicare Advantage plan in order to avoid a gap in drug coverage.
If patients don’t choose a Medicare Part D plan or if they don’t have alternative coverage, they will be subject to a late enrollment penalty if they choose to enroll in a PDP in the future.
Help your patients navigate Medicare Part D.
