Deadline Center
Some windows are the same date for everyone. Others depend on your birthday or your Part B start date. Put the fixed ones on your calendar and use the checkup for the personal ones.
Seven months: the three months before your 65th birthday month, that month, and the three months after.
Your first chance to sign up for Part A and Part B.
If you miss it: Signing up late without qualifying coverage can create a lifelong Part B late enrollment penalty.
Six months, starting the month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.
The window where Medigap policies are generally issued without medical underwriting.
If you miss it: Outside the window an insurer may use underwriting unless a guaranteed issue right applies.
January 1 – March 31 each year.
A catch-up window for people who missed their Initial Enrollment Period and have no other qualifying coverage.
If you miss it: You may wait months for coverage to begin and may owe a penalty.
October 15 – December 7 each year.
The annual window to change Part D prescription drug coverage or Medicare Advantage enrollment.
If you miss it: You may be locked into a plan you did not review for another year.
January 1 – March 31 each year.
A window for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan to switch plans or return to Original Medicare.
If you miss it: Returning to Original Medicare later may involve Medigap underwriting depending on your circumstances.
Triggered by an event, such as losing employer coverage or moving.
Lets you enroll or change coverage outside the standard windows.
If you miss it: SEPs have their own time limits, often measured in weeks or a small number of months.
Personal dates
Your six-month Medigap window depends on your Part B start date. The checkup works it out and builds an action plan around it.