Medicare Plan Annual Enrollment Period Begins Tuesday
What You Need to Know In some markets, agents and brokers are coping with big waves of plan withdrawals or shrinking benefits. Consumers appear to be weighing their plan options earlier in the period than usual. The future of Medicare is a top priority for voters, a survey finds. The annual enrollment period for Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans starts Tuesday and runs through Dec. 7. The question of the moment appears to be, “Is it really going to be that bad?” In some markets, agents and brokers are coping with big waves of plan withdrawals. In other markets, the main effect is shrinkage in extra dental and fitness center membership benefits. But the Google Trends tracker shows that recent search activity for the term “Medicare Advantage” has been very high. For Google, the all-time search activity peak for “Medicare Advantage” came during the week ending Oct. 21, 2023, when the annual enrollment period had already started and people were rushing to shop for coverage. Google gives “Medicare Advantage” search activity for that week a score of 100. The trend tracker tool rates activity for other weeks in terms of how they compare with the all-time peak week. For...
