Can you go back to Original Medicare from an Advantage Plan?

Changing from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare is very simple, however, this also changes the coverage options.  You are eligible to switch plans twice each year, i.e., Oct. 15 – Dec. 7 (open enrollment period/ Medicare Annual Election Period) & Jan. 1 – March. 31 (Annual dis-enrollment period). This time frame helps you switch plans with no questions asked, and the changes will take effect on the 1st  day of the month after the month in which the changes occurred. The process is easy, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227/your local Social Security Office/contact your Medicare Advantage insurer and process your disenrollment. 

The second way to switch to Original Medicare, is if you are entitled to a trial right. The dependable first year in the Medicare Advantage program where you can drop and return to Original Medicare without penalty. You have the right to purchase a supplemental Medigap policy during the Medigap  Open Enrollment Period to cover the remaining costs after what is paid by Medicare Part B. 

Trial Right 

• If this is the first Medicare Advantage Plan you ever have been enrolled in, then only you are eligible through a trial right to switch to Original Medicare. 
• If your Medicare Advantage Plan includes a Part D plan for prescription drug coverage, then using a trial right, you can discreetly enroll in Part D coverage without penance. 
• If you choose to drop Medigap for the Medicare Advantage Plan, you can switch back to your  Medigap policy using a trial right. During this time, you are not eligible for guaranteed-issue  Medigap if you move to Medicare Advantage. 

Certain Circumstances for Changing Medicare Plans 

There are other disenrollment circumstances to help you switch to another type of coverage to suit you. 

• If you move out of your plan’s service area, in that case, you can switch to Original Medicare for two months after the month you move without penalty. 
• You can move from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare if you enter or leave institutional care. Such as skilled nursing facilities, long-term hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation  
• hospitals and units, swing-bed hospitals, and care facilities for the intellectually disabled. 
• If you lose your Medicaid coverage, you can drop from the Medicare Advantage Plan to Original  Medicare once a quarter from the date of notification or lose, whichever is earlier. 
• You can switch from Medicare Advantage to any private plan without penance if you find it more credible as and when the PACE plan allows for it. 
• Extra help or Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits give you the right to switch plans limited by the plan’s rules to provide you with comprehensive drug benefits. 
• Consider this disenrollment option to automatically enroll you in Original Medicare, an error made by a federal employee while assisting you in selecting a plan. 

Once you are back to Original Medicare, you have to continue paying the premiums for Part B, the way you were doing. Additionally, Part A & Part B won’t cover the entire medical bill, so to fill  the gap, they buy a private Medigap supplemental insurance policy to pay for gaps in Medicare’s  coverage. Though leaving Medicare Advantage, encounter issues with Medicare Part D prescription  drug coverage and buy any Medigap plan you want.