Medicare Advantage

Rethinking Your Advantage Plan? You Have Until March 31

People in Pompano Beach can choose from 106 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 119 this year. 29 of this year’s plans are gone, 16 are new to Broward County, and 60 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 19 of them under a new name.

Pompano Beach, Fla. — If January's Medicare mail already has you second-guessing the Advantage plan you picked back in the fall, take a breath. From January 1 through March 31, most people already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan get a second look — a chance to change course once, without waiting another year.

This stretch is called the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, and it's built for exactly this situation: you've had a few weeks to actually use your new plan, and something isn't sitting right. Maybe your doctor isn't in the network. Maybe a prescription costs more than you expected. Maybe the plan simply feels like a mismatch.

Here's what you can — and cannot — do with this window.

Who this window is for

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, sometimes shortened to MA-OEP, is only for people who were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of January 1. If you're on Original Medicare (Parts A and B) with or without a stand-alone Part D drug plan, this window does not apply to you.

If you're eligible, you get one change during the three months. Once you make that change, the window closes for you, even if it's still February.

What you can do between January 1 and March 31

According to CMS, if you're in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can:

• Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage).
• Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare. If you do that, you can also join a stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan.

That's it. This period is a course-correction, not a full re-do.

What you cannot do

It's just as important to know the limits:

• You cannot use this window to move from Original Medicare into a Medicare Advantage plan.
• You cannot join a stand-alone Part D plan if you're keeping your Medicare Advantage coverage.
• You cannot make more than one change during the window.

If you missed the fall Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) and you're on Original Medicare, you'll generally need to wait for the next fall window, unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period because of a life event like moving or losing other coverage.

How to decide if a change is worth making

Before you switch, gather a few things and ask yourself honest questions:

• Your prescriptions. Pull up your current medication list. Are they covered on the plan you're on? What tier are they on? Remember, the Part D annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• Your doctors. Confirm the providers and hospitals you actually use are in-network. A single specialist change can be a good reason to look elsewhere.
• How you've used the plan so far. Even a few weeks of real-world use — a pharmacy trip, a specialist visit — tells you more than a benefits summary.
• Drug cost smoothing. If prescription costs are the pain point, ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread out-of-pocket drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying big amounts up front.

The Pompano Beach picture

Pompano Beach is in Broward County, where Medicare beneficiaries typically have a wide range of Medicare Advantage and Part D options to compare — one of the larger menus in Florida. That's good news for choice, but it also means comparing plans on your own can feel overwhelming. The medicare.gov Plan Finder lets you enter your ZIP code, your drug list, and your pharmacies, and see how plans stack up on total estimated cost — not just premium.

For unbiased, one-on-one help, Florida SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) is the state's official SHIP program. Counselors are trained volunteers and do not sell insurance.

Star Ratings, briefly

You may notice plans labeled with a star rating from 1 to 5. CMS publishes these ratings each year to measure plan quality on things like customer service, member complaints, and how well the plan manages chronic conditions. Ratings are one useful data point, but they don't replace checking your own doctors, drugs, and pharmacies against a specific plan.