Switching plans
Check the network before you cancel, not after.
The most common avoidable disaster in this business is someone cancelling a plan before the replacement is confirmed. It is avoidable because the order of operations is fixed and short.
The order of operations
1
Confirm the new plan is available
Availability is by county, and eligibility depends on the window you are in. Seeing a plan is not the same as being able to join it today.
2
Check the network
Every doctor you intend to keep, by name, at the specific location you attend — by telephoning the practice, not by trusting a directory.
3
Check the formulary
Every prescription, by name, dose and form. A drug can be covered in one strength and not another.
4
Get the start date in writing
A verbal date is not a date. You need something you can point at if it goes wrong.
5
Only then, the old plan
Enrolling usually ends the old plan automatically. Cancelling first is how gaps get created.
Switches that are hard to reverse
Most plan changes undo at the next window. These three may not.
- Leaving a Medicare Supplement
- Going back later can involve medical underwriting, and underwriting can decline. Guaranteed-issue rights exist but are narrower and more time-limited than people assume.
- Dropping drug coverage with no creditable alternative
- A late-enrollment penalty can attach and generally stays attached rather than expiring.
- Letting Marketplace coverage lapse outside a window
- If no Special Enrollment Period applies, there may be no way back in until the next open window.
Before anything is cancelled
You should be able to answer all five. If you cannot answer one, you are not ready.
- What is the new plan’s effective date, in writing?
- Is every doctor I intend to keep confirmed in-network for that date?
- Is every prescription on the new formulary, at my dose?
- Do I have anything in progress — an authorisation, a referral, a scheduled procedure?
- Is there medical underwriting involved in going back if I change my mind?
You may not need an agent at all
These services are free, independent, and will show you every plan in your area — including plans we cannot sell. If your situation is simple, they may be all you need.
- Medicare.gov Plan Finder — every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan where you live. Call1-800-MEDICARE, 24 hours a day, TTY 1-877-486-2048.
- Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — free one-to-one Medicare counselling from people who sell nothing.
- HealthCare.gov — Marketplace plans and subsidy eligibility, plusfree local Navigators.
We list these because the alternative is you finding out later. If you call us and a free route fits better, that is what we will tell you.
Thinking about switching?
We will run the network and formulary checks with you — and tell you plainly when the plan you already have beats everything on our shelf.
No obligation. We'll tell you if a free option through Medicare.gov or HealthCare.gov suits you better. Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm ET.