Medicare Advantage

One Medicare Advantage Switch Allowed for Warwick Enrollees

Warwick, R.I. — If you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan this fall and a few weeks into the new year something feels off, take a breath. You have a second chance. From January 1 through March 31, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period gives people already on an Advantage plan one opportunity to change course for 2027.

This window is smaller and more limited than the fall Annual Enrollment Period, but for Kent County residents who feel stuck with the wrong plan, it can be a real relief valve.

What the January–March window actually is

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (often shortened to MA-OEP) runs every year from Jan. 1 to March 31. It’s designed for people who are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of Jan. 1 and want to make one change.

It is not the same as the fall Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7), when anyone with Medicare can shop, switch, or join a plan. The January window is narrower on purpose — think of it as a course-correction period, not a full open shopping season.

What you can do between Jan. 1 and March 31

If you’re currently on a Medicare Advantage plan, during this window you can:

• Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage).
• Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare (Parts A and B).
• Add a stand-alone Part D drug plan if you go back to Original Medicare.

You are allowed one change during this period. Once you make it, the window effectively closes for you until next year — so it’s worth thinking carefully before you file paperwork.

What you cannot do in this window

The MA-OEP has clear limits. During January through March, you cannot:

• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan (if you weren’t already on one Jan. 1).
• Join a stand-alone Part D drug plan if you have Original Medicare and didn’t already have one.
• Switch from one stand-alone Part D plan to another.

Those moves generally had to happen during the fall Annual Enrollment Period, or they require a Special Enrollment Period tied to a life event like moving or losing other coverage.

How to decide if a switch makes sense

Before you change anything, walk through a short checklist:

1. Look at your current plan’s 2027 details. Your plan mails an Annual Notice of Change each fall. Pull it out. Costs, drug lists, and provider networks may have shifted for the new year. 2. Check your doctors and hospitals. In and around Warwick, confirm the providers you actually use are in the plan’s network for 2027. Networks change. 3. Check your prescriptions. Make sure every drug you take is on the plan’s formulary and see which tier it’s on. 4. Think about total yearly cost, not just the monthly premium — deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket maximums all matter.

If everything still fits, staying put is a perfectly good answer.

The program figures worth knowing

A few program-wide figures shape decisions as you compare 2027 coverage:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending hits that number, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap (“donut hole”) is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your yearly drug costs across monthly payments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA: higher-income surcharges on Part B and Part D start above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026 (based on your 2024 tax return).

A note on plan choices in Warwick

Warwick sits in Kent County, and plan availability in Medicare is set at the county level. Kent County residents typically have a range of Medicare Advantage options offered by multiple carriers. The exact list changes every year — check your plan's ANOC for 2027 changes and use Medicare’s Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare to see what’s available for 2027 and how each option handles your specific doctors and drugs.

You may also see plans labeled with Star Ratings on a 1-to-5 scale. Those ratings are CMS’s measure of plan quality and member experience. They’re useful context — not a substitute for checking whether a plan actually covers your care.