Medicare AEP Checklist: What to Review Every Fall

Every year between October 15 and December 7, Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period gives you the chance to review your coverage. Even if you're happy with your plan, it's worth running through a short checklist — plans change quietly, year over year, and it's easy to miss.

1. Read your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC)

Your plan mails this every September. It lists exactly what's different for next year — premium, deductible, copays, and covered drugs. It's the single most useful document for this whole process, and it's easy to set aside unread.

2. Confirm your doctors are still in-network

Provider networks shift every year. A specialist you've seen for years could be dropped from your plan's network without much notice. Check this directly with your plan or provider's office, not just from memory.

3. Check your prescription drug formulary

Medications can move tiers, get dropped, or require new prior authorization from one year to the next. If you take regular prescriptions, compare this year's formulary against what's coming for next year.

4. Review your total costs, not just the premium

A low monthly premium doesn't always mean lower costs overall. Add up premiums, deductibles, copays, and your typical prescription costs to get a real annual estimate — not just what shows up on the first page.

5. Look at what extra benefits you're actually using

Dental, vision, hearing, and fitness benefits vary widely by plan. If you're not using benefits you're paying for — or if you need benefits your current plan doesn't offer — this is the time to notice.

6. Set a decision deadline for yourself

December 7 is a hard deadline — there's no grace period. Give yourself a personal cutoff in November so you're not rushing a decision in the final days.