On October 13, 2021

Navigating Medicare’s annual enrollment

By Kevin Theissen

How long has it been since you’ve reviewed your Medicare policy? With open enrollment fast approaching, there are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before you renew, add, drop or switch coverage.

Medicare’s annual open enrollment period begins Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7. During this time, current Medicare beneficiaries have the option to adjust their coverage for the coming year. Any changes to your plan will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

Have you switched doctors, or is your doctor no longer accepting your current plan? Or maybe your prescription drug needs have changed, and your Medicare plan doesn’t cover everything you need. Maybe you’re paying too much for your coverage and need to make adjustments. This is an opportunity to reassess your current coverage and identify potential areas for improvement.

Before open enrollment begins, you’ll receive a report outlining your current coverage. Review your elections carefully, especially if you haven’t updated coverage in the last few years. Medicare offers a plan finder tool to help compare other offerings if you’re considering making a switch.

Your health insurance coverage in retirement should work to protect your financial wellbeing.

Reviewing your Medicare coverage is an important part of your financial and insurance strategy. If you have any questions or need help navigating this process, you may want to contact a qualified and experienced financial advisor.

Kevin Theissen is the owner of HWC Financial in Ludlow.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

A Riddle, a rainbow, and the road to 100

June 4, 2025
A cloud is my mother. The wind is my father. My son is a cool stream. My daughter is the fruit of the land.  A rainbow is my bed. The earth is my final resting place. The above is a riddle and very appropriate. See if you can solve it. If not, the answer can…

Ain’t no party like a Patch party

June 4, 2025
I always ski on June 1st. Some years, the lifts are running, and I’m surrounded by a thousand of my closest friends and fellow ski bums, the line wrapping around the base lodge. Some of us are there for the bragging rights, others for the free t-shirt, and some time at the Umbrella Bar. There’s…

Drawing on inspiration

June 4, 2025
I know it was second grade because I remember the classroom. And I know what teacher was involved because I never forgot her or the moment I’m about to highlight. The year was 1974. I don’t have many memories from that stage of my life, but the following was poignant enough to have possibly set…

Celestial creature: Indigo bunting

June 4, 2025
There is nothing like the royal blue of an indigo bunting. In the Northeast, they arrive fashionably late to the spring fling, behind the vanguard of migrating warblers and other songbirds. On my morning walk in my frequent birding spot – my “patch,” as birders call it –I heard the sharp double-noted tune: “Look! Look!…