Quick answers
- When can I first sign up for Medicare?
- During your 7-month Initial Enrollment Period: the 3 months before your 65th birthday month, that month and the 3 months after.
- When is open enrollment for 2027?
- October 15 to December 7, 2026. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
- Can I change my Medicare Advantage plan after January 1?
- Yes, once, from January 1 to March 31, 2027, during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period.
- I missed my Initial Enrollment Period. What now?
- Sign up for Part B from January 1 to March 31 during the General Enrollment Period, unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. You may owe a late penalty.
- Does Ohio have a Medigap birthday rule?
- No. Ohio gives you one 6-month Medigap open enrollment period, starting when you're both 65 and in Part B. A bill to add a birthday rule has been proposed; it is not law.
How do Medicare enrollment periods work?
Medicare has fixed windows for signing up for Part A and Part B and for joining, switching or dropping Medicare Advantage, Part D and Medigap coverage. Outside them you usually have to wait, and signing up late can mean a gap in coverage and a penalty that lasts as long as you have Medicare. The Medicare windows are federal, so they're the same in Ohio as anywhere. What's different here: Ohio has no Medigap birthday rule, Ohio Medicaid and MyCare Ohio members have monthly change rights, many public retirees aren't enrolled automatically, and some Ohio Medicare Advantage plans end in 2027.
Timeline at a glance
| Period | Dates | What you can do | When coverage starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Enrollment Period | 7 months: 3 months before your 65th birthday month, that month and 3 months after | Sign up for Part A and Part B; join a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan | First of your birthday month if you sign up before it; otherwise the first of the month after you sign up |
| Medigap open enrollment (Ohio) | 6 months, starting the first month you're 65 and in Part B | Buy any Medigap policy a company sells in Ohio with no health questions | When the policy says |
| General Enrollment Period | January 1 to March 31 | Sign up for Part B (or premium Part A) if you missed other chances | First of the month after you sign up |
| Open Enrollment | October 15 to December 7 | Join, switch or drop Medicare Advantage or Part D plans | January 1 |
| Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period | January 1 to March 31 | One change if you're in a Medicare Advantage plan | First of the month after the change |
| Part B special enrollment period | 8 months after job-based coverage or the job ends, whichever is first | Sign up for Part B (and Part A) without a penalty | First of the month after you sign up, or up to 3 months later if you ask |
| Plan not renewing (2027 endings) | December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027 | Choose a new Medicare Advantage or Part D plan | First of the month after you join |
Key dates for this year are also on What are the Medicare deadlines in Ohio for 2027?
When is my Initial Enrollment Period?
Your Initial Enrollment Period is 7 months long: the 3 months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the 3 months after. Sign up in the 3 months before your birthday month and coverage starts on the first day of your birthday month. Sign up during or after your birthday month and coverage starts the first day of the next month. (If your birthday is on the first of the month, everything moves a month earlier.)
If you already get Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, you're enrolled in Part A and Part B automatically. If not, sign up with Social Security online, by phone at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), or at a Social Security office in Ohio.
Ohio public retirees: if you worked for an Ohio school district, state agency, city, county or public safety department and your pension comes from OPERS, STRS Ohio, SERS, OP&F or HPRS instead of Social Security, you probably won't be enrolled automatically. Sign up yourself during your Initial Enrollment Period, and check what your retirement system requires. See Ohio public retirement systems and Medicare.
People under 65 who get Social Security disability benefits are enrolled automatically after 24 months of benefits; people with ALS get Medicare the month disability benefits begin. See Medicare eligibility and the turning 65 in Ohio checklist.
What is the General Enrollment Period?
If you missed your Initial Enrollment Period and don't qualify for a special enrollment period, you can sign up for Part B (or Part A, if you'd pay a premium for it) from January 1 to March 31 each year. Coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up. You may owe a late enrollment penalty (see below).
Open Enrollment: October 15 to December 7
Each fall, anyone with Medicare can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Your choice takes effect January 1. The window open now is for 2027 coverage. If you make more than one change, the last one you make by December 7 counts. See Medicare open enrollment in Ohio.
Before it starts, your plan sends an Annual Notice of Change listing next year's changes. Read it even if you're happy with your plan: premiums, networks, drug lists and service areas can all change. CMS lists 119 Medicare Advantage plans open to everyone and 9 standalone Part D plans in Ohio for 2027; the list for your county is on the county pages.
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 to March 31
If you're in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you can make one change by March 31: switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or drop your plan, return to Original Medicare and join a Part D plan. If you're new to Medicare and joined a Medicare Advantage plan, you get the same one change during your first 3 months with Medicare. This period can't be used to move from Original Medicare into Medicare Advantage or to switch between standalone drug plans. Remember that in Ohio, moving to Original Medicare doesn't guarantee you can buy Medigap; companies can ask health questions unless you have a guaranteed-issue right.
Which special enrollment periods matter most in Ohio?
Certain life events open a special enrollment period (SEP) outside the usual windows. These are the ones Ohioans use most.
Your plan is ending or leaving your county
For 2027, some companies stop selling regular Medicare Advantage plans in some or all Ohio counties and others end some plans, so at least 38,178 Ohioans must choose new coverage. Every Ohio county still has regular Medicare Advantage plans in 2027. If your plan isn't renewing, you'll get a non-renewal letter. You can choose a new plan during Open Enrollment and then through February 28, 2027. Choose by December 31, 2026 so the new plan starts January 1 with no gap. If you don't choose, you'll be in Original Medicare on January 1 without drug coverage. You may also have a guaranteed right to buy a Medigap policy until 63 days after your plan coverage ends. See Ohio plans ending in 2027.
Moving to, from or within Ohio
- Moving outside your plan's service area, whether into Ohio, out of it, or to an Ohio county your plan doesn't serve: you can switch plans or return to Original Medicare. The window starts the month before you move if you tell your plan in advance (otherwise the month you tell it) and lasts 2 full months after.
- Moving within your plan's area to a place with new plan options: you get the same kind of window.
- Returning to the U.S. after living abroad: you can join a plan during the 2 full months after the month you move back.
- Moving into or out of a nursing home or other institution also opens a window.
More on moving to Ohio with Medicare and Florida snowbirds and Medicare.
Losing employer or union coverage
When job-based coverage from your own or your spouse's current work ends, you have 8 months to sign up for Part B without a penalty, starting the month after the job or the coverage ends, whichever comes first. To join a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, you have 2 full months after the month the coverage ends. COBRA and retiree coverage don't count as coverage from current work for the Part B rule; see working past 65.
Ohio Medicaid, MyCare Ohio and Extra Help
- Once a month, if you have Ohio Medicaid and Medicare, or you get Extra Help (people in a Medicare Premium Assistance Program get it automatically), you can switch to a different standalone Part D plan, or leave a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage for Original Medicare plus a standalone drug plan.
- MyCare Ohio: if you have full Ohio Medicaid and Medicare, you can choose your MyCare Ohio plan for your Medicare too (one plan for both), or change that choice, once a month through Medicare. For 2027, the only D-SNPs in Ohio are the plans tied to MyCare Ohio.
- Losing Medicaid or Extra Help: you have 3 months from the later of the date you lose eligibility or the date you're notified to make one change.
Changes take effect the first day of the next month. Ohio Medicaid questions go to the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline at 1-800-324-8680. More on MyCare Ohio, D-SNPs in Ohio and Medicare Savings Programs in Ohio.
Floods, winter storms and tornadoes
If a federal, state or local government declares an emergency or major disaster where you live (or where the person who helps you with health decisions lives), and it kept you from making a change during another enrollment period you were eligible for, you get a special enrollment period for Medicare Advantage and Part D. It lasts until 2 full calendar months after the incident ends. Call 1-800-MEDICARE to use it. See winter storms, floods and Medicare in Ohio.
Other situations
Other special enrollment periods include losing creditable drug coverage through no fault of your own, joining or leaving PACE, and switching once a year into a plan with an overall 5-star rating where one is offered. If something unusual kept you from enrolling, call 1-800-MEDICARE to ask whether an exceptional-circumstance period applies.
When can I buy Medigap in Ohio?
Your one-time Medigap open enrollment period lasts 6 months, starting the first month you're both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B (OAC 3901-8-08). During it, companies selling Medigap in Ohio must sell you any policy they offer, regardless of your health. After it, companies can generally use medical underwriting unless you have a federal guaranteed-issue right, such as your Medicare Advantage plan ending, your employer coverage ending, or the 12-month trial right after first joining Medicare Advantage.
Ohio has no birthday rule or annual switching right. House Bill 24 in the 136th General Assembly would add one and would also open Medigap to some people under 65; a bill has been proposed, but it is not law. If you're under 65 with Medicare because of a disability, Ohio doesn't require companies to sell you a policy; your Ohio open enrollment comes at 65. Details on Medigap in Ohio.
What are the late enrollment penalties?
Part B: if you don't sign up when first eligible and don't have job-based coverage from current work, your Part B premium can go up 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but didn't. The penalty usually lasts as long as you have Part B. The standard premium is $202.90 a month in 2026.
Part D: if you go 63 days or more in a row without Part D or other creditable drug coverage after your Initial Enrollment Period, a penalty is added to your drug plan premium: 1% of the national base beneficiary premium ($38.99 in 2026) for each full month without coverage. It usually lasts as long as you have Part D. People who get Extra Help don't pay it.
Estimate a penalty with the late enrollment penalty calculator.
Where can I get help?
During an open window, you can see plans for your ZIP code. To check which enrollment period applies to you and go over plans from the companies they work with, you can request a call from a licensed insurance agent.
For Part A and Part B sign-up, contact Social Security at ssa.gov or 1-800-772-1213. For general Medicare questions, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048). See Ohio Medicare contacts.
Sources
- Medicare.gov — When does Medicare coverage start?
- Medicare.gov — Special enrollment periods
- Medicare.gov — When can I join a health or drug plan?
- Social Security — Sign up for Medicare
- Social Security — Apply for Part B during a special enrollment period
- eCFR — 42 CFR Part 407, Part B enrollment (including the General Enrollment Period)
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.62, Medicare Advantage election periods (including the disaster SEP)
- eCFR — 42 CFR 423.38, Part D enrollment periods
- Medicare.gov — Avoid late enrollment penalties
- Ohio Administrative Code 3901-8-08 — Medicare supplement (open enrollment and guaranteed issue)
- Ohio Legislature — House Bill 24 (136th General Assembly), status
- Ohio Administrative Code 5160-58-02 — MyCare Ohio eligibility
- CMS — CY2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape files
Every question in this guide
- Can I get Medicare before 65 in Ohio?
- Do I need Medicare Part B if I'm still working at 65 in Ohio?
- How do I sign up for Medicare in Ohio?
- What are the Medicare deadlines in Ohio for 2027?
- What happens if I miss my Medicare enrollment period in Ohio?
- What happens to my Medicare if I move to Ohio?
- When should I sign up for Medicare if I'm turning 65 in Ohio?
Frequently asked questions
Am I automatically enrolled in Medicare at 65?
Only if you already get Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits at least 4 months before you turn 65; then you're enrolled in Part A and Part B and your card arrives about 3 months before your birthday month. If you don't get those benefits yet, including many Ohio public retirees who never paid into Social Security, you must sign up through Social Security yourself.
What is the Medicare Part B late enrollment penalty?
If you don't sign up for Part B when first eligible and don't have job-based coverage from your or your spouse's current work, your premium goes up 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but didn't. You usually pay it as long as you have Part B. In 2026 it's figured on the standard premium of $202.90.
What is the Medicare General Enrollment Period?
It runs January 1 to March 31 each year, for people who missed their Initial Enrollment Period and don't qualify for a special enrollment period. You can sign up for Part B, or for premium Part A, and coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up. A late penalty may apply.
Can I sign up for Medicare Part B online?
Yes. You can apply for Medicare online at ssa.gov/medicare/sign-up. If you're signing up for Part B later because job coverage is ending, Social Security lets you submit form CMS-40B and your employer's form CMS-L564 online, by fax or by mail, or at a Social Security office.
My Medicare Advantage plan is ending in 2027. How long do I have to choose?
You can use Open Enrollment through December 7 and then a special enrollment period through February 28, 2027. Choose by December 31, 2026 so new coverage starts January 1 with no gap. If you do nothing, you'll have Original Medicare without drug coverage. You may also have a guaranteed right to buy Medigap for 63 days after your plan coverage ends.
Medicare in your Ohio county
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