AEP 2026 — the Annual Enrollment Period — opened today, October 15, and runs through December 7. If you’re already on Medicare, this is the one guaranteed window every year to change your Medicare Advantage or Part D coverage without needing a special reason. A lot of the advice floating around this time of year focuses on preparing beforehand — reviewing notices, comparing plans, checking networks. Less gets said about what happens once the window is actually open: how a switch gets made, what counts as your final decision, and where people trip themselves up between now and the deadline.
This guide covers the part that happens during AEP itself, not just before it.
What AEP 2026 Actually Lets You Do
AEP is open to anyone already enrolled in Medicare — it’s not the enrollment period for people newly turning 65, who instead work through their own enrollment timeline around that birthday. If that’s your situation, our turning 65 guide is the better starting point.
During AEP 2026, you can make any of these changes, effective January 1, 2027 (Plan Year 2027):
- Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to a different one.
- Switch from one Part D drug plan to a different one.
- Join a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for the first time, if you haven’t had one.
- Drop Medicare Advantage and move back to Original Medicare.
AEP does not cover Medigap (Medicare Supplement) enrollment. Medigap runs on its own rules, separate from this window — our coverage comparison guide walks through how Medicare Advantage and Medigap differ if you’re weighing a bigger change than a plan swap.
How Making a Change Actually Works
Once you’ve decided to switch, the mechanics are fairly simple:
- Enroll through one of three channels: Medicare’s Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov, a call directly to the new plan, or through a licensed insurance agent at no cost to you (agents are paid by the plans, not by the person enrolling).
- Get a confirmation number. Whichever channel you use, make sure you walk away with some form of confirmation — a confirmation number, an email, or written documentation — that your enrollment was received.
- Watch for your new plan’s ID card and Welcome materials. These typically arrive in the weeks after AEP closes, before your new coverage starts.
- Your old plan ends December 31, and the new one begins January 1, 2027. There’s no coverage gap in between.
A licensed insurance agent can walk through all three channels with you, including which carriers are available where you live, at no added cost — agents are paid by the insurance companies, not by the person enrolling, so getting a second set of eyes on your options doesn’t change what you pay for the plan itself.
If you took our advice from earlier in the season and already reviewed your Annual Notice of Change or compared plan options, this is simply the step where that research turns into an actual enrollment. If you haven’t done that homework yet, there’s still time between now and December 7 — just don’t let the comparison step eat the whole window, since the enrollment itself only takes a few minutes once you know which plan you want.
Your Last Enrollment Is the One That Counts
Here’s a detail that doesn’t get repeated often enough: AEP lets you change your mind as many times as you want. If you enroll in Plan A on November 1 and then decide on November 20 that Plan B is the better fit, enrolling in Plan B automatically cancels the Plan A enrollment — no extra step required. Whatever enrollment you submit last, before December 7, is the one that takes effect on January 1.
This matters because it takes the pressure off getting it perfect on the first try. If new information comes up — you find a lower-cost option, a plan drops a drug you take, or you simply want a second look — you have the whole window to adjust, right up until the deadline.
It also means there’s no real downside to enrolling early and continuing to compare. Some people assume that once they’ve picked a plan, they’re locked in until the next AEP rolls around. That’s not how it works during this specific window — the lock-in only happens once December 7 passes and your last choice becomes final for Plan Year 2027.
Mistakes That Cost People During AEP
A few patterns show up every year that are worth avoiding:
- Waiting until the last few days. Plan Finder and agent phone lines get busier as December 7 approaches, and a late technical issue leaves no time to fix it.
- Comparing premiums only. A plan with a $0 premium can still cost more overall once you factor in copays, coinsurance, and drug tiers. If you’re also managing a fixed budget, our 2026 Medicare costs guide breaks down the Part B premium ($202.90/month), Part B deductible ($283), and the $2,100 Part D annual out-of-pocket cap that applies across all plans in 2026.
- Assuming a verbal confirmation is enough. Always get something in writing or a confirmation number, regardless of which channel you use to enroll.
- Dropping Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare without checking Medigap first. If you want a Medigap policy too, apply separately and understand that underwriting may apply outside your one-time Open Enrollment Period.
Our common Medicare mistakes guide covers several more of these in detail, and the glossary is a quick reference if any of the terms above — formulary, coinsurance, guaranteed issue — aren’t familiar yet.
AEP 2026 gives you until December 7 to get your coverage right for Plan Year 2027, and the process itself is more forgiving than people expect — you can change your mind right up until the deadline. The part that actually matters is making sure something gets submitted, with confirmation in hand, before the window closes.
Have questions? Kayla Price is a licensed insurance agent serving NC, SC, GA, FL, VA, MD, MI, KS, TX, and OH. Call (866) 648-1578 or visit priceservicesgroup.com.