The biggest mistakes to avoid when switching Medicare Advantage plans are assuming your current plan will still be there next year, choosing a plan on premium alone, expecting your doctors and prescriptions to carry over, waiting until the last few days of Open Enrollment, and thinking you can switch whenever you like next year. Each one is easy to avoid with a little help before December 7. I'm Mitch Lyman, an independent Medicare broker in Meridian, and these are the proble

If you're comparing Medicare Advantage plans in Idaho for 2027, here's the short answer: start with what's changing on your current plan, then compare your doctors, prescriptions and total yearly costs across several insurance companies before December 7. The plan that worked well last year may not be the best fit for 2027. I'm Mitch Lyman, an independent Medicare broker in Meridian. I help people across the Treasure Valley, from Boise and Eagle to Nampa and Caldwell, compare

What happens if you do nothing during Medicare Open Enrollment? If you're in a Medicare Advantage plan that's continuing next year, it usually renews automatically on January 1, 2027, with whatever changes the insurance company made for the new year. You don't have to re-enroll to keep it. There's one big exception. If your Medicare Advantage plan is ending after 2026, as the Saint Alphonsus plans are here in the Treasure Valley, doing nothing means your plan coverage stops D

If you're looking for a Medicare insurance broker in Boise, you're probably in the middle of Open Enrollment and trying to sort out your 2027 options. A good broker compares Medicare Advantage plans from several insurance companies, checks that your doctors and prescriptions are covered, and doesn't cost you anything extra. I'm Mitch Lyman, an independent Medicare broker in Meridian, and I help people across Boise and the Treasure Valley, mostly by phone. Below are five quest

Yes. During Medicare Open Enrollment, October 15 through December 7, you can change Medicare Advantage plans during Open Enrollment more than once. Generally, the last plan choice received by December 7 is the one that takes effect on January 1, 2027. Your earlier choice is simply replaced. That matters this year in Meridian and across the Treasure Valley. Plenty of people enrolled early, especially Saint Alphonsus members whose plans end after 2026, and then heard about anot

If you're searching for a Medicare insurance broker in Nampa, you probably want someone local who knows the plans available in Canyon County and will explain them in plain English, without a sales pitch. I'm Mitch Lyman, an independent Medicare broker in Meridian, and I help people in Nampa, Caldwell and across the Treasure Valley compare Medicare Advantage plans, mostly right over the phone. Now is the time that matters most. Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 through

If you've been looking into Idaho Medicare Part C plans, you've probably noticed that insurance companies almost never call them that. They call them Medicare Advantage plans. They're the same thing: Part C is the official name, and Medicare Advantage is the name on the mailers and TV ads. Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and it's when you can join, switch or drop a Part C plan for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. As an independent Medicare br

Woman reviewing her 2027 Medicare plan options at home

Marketing notice: This post and video are marketing material from Mitch Lyman, an independent licensed Medicare agent. The comparisons and recommendations are my own opinions, based on each plan’s published 2027 materials. This is not a complete description of benefits. Download Discussed 2027 Summaries of Benefits The Summary of Benefits lists the plan’s 2027 costs for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescriptions and more. Choose plan below to open it. The Annual Enrollment

Every fall, a few Medicare Advantage plans stop being offered for the next year, or pull out of certain counties. If that happens to your plan, the insurance company sends you a letter saying your coverage ends on December 31. Some people call it a non-renewal letter. I’ve walked plenty of Treasure Valley clients through this, and the first thing I tell them is: don’t panic, and don’t ignore it. You have good options and more time than you might think. Here’s what the letter

Every fall, Medicare plans update their benefits, costs and provider networks for the coming year. For 2027, you can start reviewing plan details on October 1. That's an important date, but it isn't the day you can make changes. Here's how the fall timeline works and what you can do now so your review goes quickly. October 1 vs. October 15: What's the Difference? October 1: 2027 plan details become available to review. You can compare your options, but you can't enroll in a n

If you have a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, you should have received a thick envelope from your insurance company by the end of September. It's called the Annual Notice of Change, or ANOC. Many people set it aside without opening it. Please don't. That letter explains how your plan will change on January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, you'll stay on your plan with those changes, whether they work for you or not. Here are the five things that matter most. 1. Your monthly pre

Every fall brings a new set of Medicare numbers, and a lot of them don't land until late in the year. Here's what's confirmed for 2027, what isn't yet, and when the rest arrives. Part D prescription costs are going up Two figures are final. The standard Part D deductible rises to $700, up from $615 in 2026. That's a steeper jump than last year, when it went from $590 to $615. The annual out-of-pocket cap rises to $2,400, up from $2,100. Once your spending on covered prescript