Moving with Medicare
Moving With Medicare: What to Do Before and After You Move
A move can affect Medicare Advantage and Part D plan availability, provider networks, pharmacies and costs. The right next step depends on the coverage you have now and where you are moving.
Moving is more than an address change when you have Medicare. Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans are offered by service area, so the plans available at your new address may be different—even if you remain in the same state.
Quick takeaway: Tell your current plan about a permanent move promptly. A move that gives you different plan options may create a Special Enrollment Period, but the dates and choices depend on your situation.
Coverage after relocating
Does Original Medicare Change When You Move?
Original Medicare is a federal program and does not use the local service areas that Medicare Advantage plans use. If you keep Original Medicare, you can generally use any doctor or hospital in the United States that accepts Medicare.
Original Medicare travels—but every part of your coverage may not.
A stand-alone Part D drug plan is location-based, and a Medicare Supplement policy has its own rules. Review each part separately before assuming everything will remain unchanged.
Medicare Advantage
What Happens to Medicare Advantage When You Move?
Medicare Advantage plans generally require you to live in the plan’s service area. If you move outside that area, you will usually need to select coverage available at your new permanent address.
A qualifying move may allow you to:
- Join a Medicare Advantage plan available at the new address;
- Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan;
- Return to Original Medicare; and
- Join a stand-alone Part D plan if you return to Original Medicare.
If you move outside your plan’s service area and do not select another Medicare Advantage plan during the applicable enrollment period, you may be returned to Original Medicare when your old plan ends. Do not leave that transition to chance: confirm your effective dates and prescription coverage before the move.
Do not cancel your existing plan first.
Confirm the new plan’s effective date and how your current coverage will end before taking action. In many plan-to-plan changes, enrollment in the new plan ends the old coverage when the new coverage begins, but confirm the transition for your specific situation.
Your enrollment opportunity
How Long Is the Moving Special Enrollment Period?
If You Report the Move Beforehand
Your opportunity to change plans generally begins the month before the month you move and continues for two full months after the month you move.
If You Tell the Plan After You Move
Your opportunity generally begins when you move and continues for two full months after the month you move. Reporting the move late can therefore leave less time to make a change.
These rules can vary in less-common situations, including moves into or out of an institution or a return to the United States after living abroad. Medicare or the plan should confirm the enrollment period that applies to you.
Moving nearby
What If You Move but Stay Inside the Plan’s Service Area?
You may still receive a Special Enrollment Period if your new address gives you Medicare Advantage or Part D options that were not available at your old address. This sometimes happens when moving between counties or ZIP codes.
Do not assume that keeping the same plan means nothing changes.
Check all of the following at the new address:
- Whether your plan is offered at the complete new residential address;
- Whether your doctors and hospitals remain in network;
- Whether nearby pharmacies are preferred or standard network pharmacies;
- Whether referrals or prior authorization rules affect ongoing care; and
- Whether your premiums, copayments or benefits differ in the new service area.
Prescription coverage
What Happens to a Part D Drug Plan?
Stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are also offered by service area. A plan available at your old address may not be offered at the new one, and the lowest-cost option can change because plan premiums, formularies and preferred pharmacy arrangements vary.
Compare total prescription costs—not only premiums.
Before choosing a new Part D plan, compare your complete medication list, dosage, frequency and preferred pharmacies. A low monthly premium does not necessarily produce the lowest total annual prescription cost.
Medigap after a move
Can You Keep Your Medicare Supplement When You Move?
In general, you can keep a standard Medicare Supplement policy when moving to another state as long as you remain enrolled in Original Medicare and continue paying the policy premium. Your premium may change based on the insurer’s rating rules and your new location.
Moving by itself does not ordinarily create a broad federal right to buy any new Medigap policy without medical underwriting. If you want to change companies or plan letters, your eligibility and underwriting requirements can depend on federal protections, state law and the circumstances surrounding your move.
Medicare SELECT policies are different because they may use a provider network. If you have Medicare SELECT, contact the insurer before moving to learn how the relocation affects the policy and whether a guaranteed-issue protection applies.
Do not drop an existing Medigap policy before replacement coverage is approved.
If you switch Medigap policies, Medicare recommends keeping the old policy during the new policy’s 30-day “free look” period. You must pay both premiums during that overlap.
Before and after the move
A Moving-With-Medicare Checklist
- Confirm the permanent address and move date. Plan eligibility is based on where you actually reside, not merely where you receive mail.
- Update your Medicare address. Notify Social Security—or the Railroad Retirement Board, if applicable—so your Medicare records and benefit communications use the correct address.
- Contact the current plan. Ask whether the new address is inside its service area and when your opportunity to change coverage begins and ends.
- List your new local providers. Check primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, clinics and durable medical equipment suppliers.
- Review every prescription. Compare the exact medications and nearby pharmacies under plans offered at the new address.
- Coordinate effective dates. Avoid an unintended gap in drug coverage or a period when an old provider network no longer applies.
- Keep confirmation documents. Save address updates, plan notices, enrollment confirmations and effective-date information.
Local Medicare guidance
Moving to Missouri or Illinois?
Thompson Medicare Brokerage helps Medicare beneficiaries moving into or within Missouri and Illinois compare the coverage available at their new address. The review can include local provider access, prescriptions, pharmacy networks, expected costs and the differences between Medicare Advantage and Original Medicare with supplemental coverage.
For people moving to the Springfield area, provider access may include questions about CoxHealth, Mercy and other local facilities. In rural Missouri, travel distance and access to hospitals or specialists may deserve additional weight.
Frequently asked questions
Moving With Medicare Questions
Do I have to wait for Medicare Open Enrollment after moving?
Not necessarily. A permanent move that changes the Medicare Advantage or Part D plans available to you may create a Special Enrollment Period outside the October 15–December 7 Open Enrollment Period.
Can I keep the same Medicare Advantage plan after moving?
Possibly, if the plan is offered at your new permanent address. Even then, you should confirm provider networks, pharmacies, costs and any plan options newly available to you.
Will Original Medicare work in another state?
Original Medicare generally works nationwide with doctors and hospitals that accept Medicare. Your Part D plan and any supplemental coverage should still be reviewed separately.
Can I keep my Medigap policy if I move from Illinois to Missouri?
In general, a standard Medigap policy can be retained when you move, provided you keep Original Medicare and pay the premium. Ask the insurer whether the premium will change. Switching to a different Medigap policy is a separate transaction and may involve underwriting unless a protection applies.
When should I begin reviewing coverage for a move?
Begin as soon as your permanent address and move date are reasonably certain. Early review provides time to verify the enrollment window, check providers and prescriptions, and coordinate coverage effective dates.
Prepare Your Medicare Coverage for the Move
Benjamin Thompson can help you compare the Medicare options available at your new Missouri or Illinois address and coordinate the transition around your doctors, prescriptions and move date.
This article provides general educational information and does not determine eligibility for a Special Enrollment Period or a particular plan. Medicare, Social Security and the applicable insurance plan make official eligibility and enrollment determinations. Thompson Medicare Brokerage is an independent insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.