Medicare Open Enrollment: get ready to compare plans for yourself or a parent

Turn the Annual Notice of Change letter and a medicine list into a plain prep sheet for Plan Finder or a free SHIP counselor. It won't pick a plan.

What it does

No bot required, and it won't pick a plan. Medicare's Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7. Changes start January 1, and the plan has to get your enrollment request by December 7. Medicare's "Your Yearly Medicare Review" (September 2026) says costs, benefits and providers can change every year, so start with the Annual Notice of Change letter from the current plan. Then use Medicare.gov/plan-compare to compare plans side by side, estimate total out-of-pocket costs, see quality ratings, get costs for your own drugs and pharmacies, and check whether your doctors are in network. If you've looked and you're happy, you don't need to do anything; coverage continues on its own. It also warns that if you drop a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you may not be able to get it back later. For free help, call 1-800-MEDICARE or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free, one-on-one, unbiased counseling. Expect a lot of mail this time of year: Medicare.gov, the "Medicare & You" handbook and 1-800-MEDICARE are the official unbiased sources. Medicare's fraud page adds that Medicare will never call to sell you anything or come to your home, so don't join a plan over the phone unless you made the call, and don't give your Medicare Number to anyone but your doctor or people you know should have it. Type the main lines from the letter and the medicine list into any chat AI (no Medicare Number or member ID) and it builds a one-page prep sheet: what changes next year, every drug with dose and how often, pharmacies, doctors, and questions for Plan Finder or a SHIP counselor. If you're helping a parent, do it with them and with their permission.

Copy-paste prompt

No bot needed: paste this into Grok, ChatGPT, or Claude.

Help me get ready for Medicare Open Enrollment (October 15 - December 7). Use Medicare.gov's Open Enrollment page and Medicare's "Your Yearly Medicare Review" as background. Don't recommend a plan, and don't give medical or insurance advice.

Who this is for: [me / my mom / my dad], helping [with their permission]. Current coverage: [Original Medicare + drug plan / Medicare Advantage / Medigap / not sure].
From the plan's Annual Notice of Change letter (no Medicare Number or member ID): [type or paste the lines about premium, deductible, copays, drug costs, and network or pharmacy changes for next year]
Medicines: [name, dose, how often, for each one]
Pharmacies we use: [names]
Doctors and specialists to keep: [names or specialties]
What matters most: [lowest cost / keeping a certain doctor / drug costs / extra benefits like dental or vision]

1. Make a short "What changes next year" list from the letter, in plain words. Mark anything unclear as "ask the plan."
2. Make a clean list of medicines, pharmacies and doctors, ready to type into Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
3. Write 5-8 questions to bring to a free SHIP counseling appointment or to check in Plan Finder (are these doctors in network? are these drugs covered, and at what cost at these pharmacies? total estimated yearly cost?).
4. If the coverage includes Medigap, remind me that dropping it to join a Medicare Advantage Plan may mean we can't get the same policy back later. Check before switching.
5. Remind me: if we review and we're happy, we don't have to do anything. Any change has to reach the plan by December 7 and starts January 1.
6. Scam check: Medicare won't call to sell anything or visit the home. Don't join a plan over the phone unless we called, and don't give out the Medicare Number to callers.
7. End with: official help is 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and the local SHIP (shiphelp.org). This is a prep sheet, not advice.