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What is the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)?

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What is the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)?

The AEP begins every year on October 15 and ends on December 7. This is why your mailbox, web browsers, and TV screens fill up with commercials and ads from insurance companies hoping to get you to buy or switch Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans during this time period.

This is when you can change your Medicare Advantage plan or your Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan if you want. For instance, during the AEP, you can move from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage or vice versa. You may also switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another Medicare Advantage plan that may better suit your needs or your budget.

Likewise, you may also switch from one Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan to another, or you may join or leave a Medicare Part D plan altogether. Provided that you make any of these changes during the AEP, your new coverage will take effect on the following January 1, and your old one will immediately be dropped with no gap in coverage.

If you don’t do anything or change anything, you just roll over and stay on the plan you have for the next year.

This does not apply to Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance. This period is only for changing Medicare Advantage Plans and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans.

Many authors and journalists mistakenly call the AEP “Open Enrollment” or “Annual Open Enrollment.” It’s not. It’s the Annual Election Period.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Fast, Convenient, & Customized Medicare insurance.

How Does Chicagoland Medicare Get Paid?

Independent Medicare insurance agents and agencies such as Chicagoland Medicare get paid by the insurance companies they represent. The commissions we are paid are already built into the insurance policy you’ve purchased, and there isn’t a way to carve them out of the monthly premium. There is no extra fee for buying a Medicare insurance policy through Chicagoland Medicare, nor will you ever pay a fee for our help.

A local, independent Medicare insurance agent represents multiple carriers so that they can work to give you an unbiased opinion on your Medicare insurance plan options. Chicagoland Medicare agents and agencies are state-licensed, trained, tested and appointed by a hand-selected number of Medicare insurance companies to be able to shop and compare Medicare insurance polices to make sure we find the right fit for you! We explore your healthcare and financial needs and listen to your feelings around options available in your local area. We search for a plan that most closely fits your individual needs and budget.

Is Chicagoland Medicare free? Yes, our services are completely free to you and anything we get paid is paid to us by the Medicare insurance companies.

The monthly premiums you pay for your Medicare insurance policies are exactly the same. You cannot buy a Medicare insurance policy directly from a Medicare insurance company at a lower rate.

We have years of experience selling Medicare insurance in the Chicago area including Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

There are all sorts of differences in the amount of coverage and they type of Medicare insurance coverage you can buy depending on what state and county you live in! Chicagoland Medicare independent Medicare agents have a lot of real-world experience and insight regarding the inner-workings of Medicare insurance companies that you, the consumer, may not have access to, such as Medicare Advantage service areas, Medicare Supplemental (Medigap) annual premium increase trends, application fees, discounts programs and more.

Only independent Medicare insurance agents and agencies like Chicagoland Medicare can offer a variety of plans and an unbiased, multi-company approach so our recommendations are objective unbiased and personalized when we sell you a Medigap, Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plan that’s right for you.

At Chicagoland Medicare, we specialize in Medicare insurance products. Period. We’re not distracted by attempting to sell you life insurance, financial planning services, stocks, bonds or anything else. Medicare insurance is all we do! Unlike many other Medicare insurance agents and brokers, we don’t sell group small business health insurance polices, disability insurance, home or auto insurance. We are a boutique Medicare insurance agency, we like it that way and we’re awesome at what we do.

We only partner with ‘A’ rated, household name, established Medicare insurance companies who offer Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, Medigap and Medicare Part D plans in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

We do not contract with, nor offer our clients startup, new or state-based, regional Medicare insurance companies. We believe in partnering with established companies for consistency, financial strength and experience.

Sometimes, Medicare insurance agents and agencies try to offer too many different insurance products from too many companies. There are literally thousands of combinations of Medicare insurance plan combinations to choose from in the Chicago area – we choose to focus on a select few of large, reliable, well-established, and financially sound Medicare insurance companies to partner with. Oftentimes, other local Medicare agents and agencies get pulled in too many directions with too many insurance offerings and therefore can’t be as knowledgeable as possible about any carrier or one insurance type over another.

At Chicagoland Medicare, we limit the number of Medicare insurance carriers who have access to our clients. We work hard to know the deep inner-workings of each of our Medicare insurance partners which means our agents and our clients aren’t distracted by small, startup Medicare insurance companies who may have a great product for a year or two, then fade into the background and exit the market. We know our Medicare insurance company representatives by name, and know how to navigate their systems and processes.

The bottom line: Chicagoland Medicare is an independent Medicare insurance agency. We are not owned by a Medicare insurance company or by some large, national entity. We’re your local Medicare insurance agency for the Chicago area. This means we only work with hand-selected Medicare insurance companies so that we can provide you with the best Medicare plan for you that’s individualized and personalized. We exist and work ONLY for our clients, unencumbered by having to push just one company’s Medicare insurance products.