Do You Have to Notify Medicare If You Move?

If you’re on Medicare and you move, notify the Social Security Administration of your new address by the 10th of the month after your move, and if you have a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, contact that plan too so you can switch to coverage that includes your new address.1Social Security Administration. Communicate Changes to Personal Situation Notifying Medicare when you move keeps your records accurate, keeps mail and cards reaching you, and, for private plan enrollees, protects you from being dropped into Original Medicare without warning.

How to Report the Address Change

Medicare address changes go through the Social Security Administration, even if you don’t receive Social Security benefits.2Medicare. How Do I Change My Address with Medicare You have three ways to do it:

SSA asks you to report the move “right away” and no later than the 10th of the month after it happens. Move on March 15, and April 10 is your deadline.1Social Security Administration. Communicate Changes to Personal Situation

If you get your Medicare through the Railroad Retirement Board instead of SSA, use myRRB online to change your address if you’re a retired railroad employee with a monthly annuity. Retired spouses and other annuitants have to contact a local RRB field office.5Railroad Retirement Board. About Change My Address

Original Medicare Travels With You

If you have Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) and nothing else, your coverage works the same anywhere in the country. Any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare will accept it, whether you moved a block away or across the country. The one geographic limit is international: Medicare generally will not pay for care received outside the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands.6Medicare. Medicare Coverage Outside the United States So for Original Medicare enrollees, a domestic move means updating your address and moving on.

Medicare Advantage and Part D: Check the Service Area

Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans are sold by private insurers, and you have to live within the plan’s service area to stay enrolled.7Medicare. Joining a Plan Service areas are usually drawn by county, so even a modest move can put you outside your plan’s territory. When that happens, you’ll need to switch to a plan available where you’re moving.

Under federal rules, a Medicare Advantage plan must disenroll you once it confirms you have permanently moved out of its service area.8eCFR. 42 CFR 422.74 – Disenrollment by the MA Organization If you don’t pick a replacement plan yourself, you’ll land in Original Medicare with no drug coverage and no supplemental benefits. Call your plan directly when you notify SSA so you can time the switch.

The Special Enrollment Period a Move Creates

Moving triggers a Special Enrollment Period that lets you change Medicare Advantage or Part D plans outside the fall enrollment window. The rules depend on where you’re going.9Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods

  • If your new address is outside your current plan’s service area, you can join a new Medicare Advantage or Part D plan in your new area or switch back to Original Medicare. The window opens when you move and runs for two full months after.9Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods
  • If your new address is still inside the service area but has new plan options available, you can switch to a different plan offered there. Same two-month window.
  • Tell your current plan before you move, and the window starts the month before the move rather than the month of it, giving you up to three months total.9Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods

The extra month is worth claiming. It gives you room to compare provider networks and drug formularies at your new address and to line up new coverage so nothing lapses on moving day.

What Happens If You Miss the Window

Miss the Special Enrollment Period after moving out of your plan’s service area, and your old plan will disenroll you into Original Medicare.9Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods The disenrollment takes effect on the first day of the month after you leave the service area and the plan is notified.10Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance

From there, you’d generally have to wait for the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, to sign up for a new Part D or Medicare Advantage plan, with the new coverage not starting until the following January. Any prescriptions or care in the meantime run through Original Medicare’s cost-sharing with no drug coverage.

Medigap After a Move

A Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy stays valid when you move to a new state. Medigap supplements Original Medicare, which works nationwide, and the benefits within each lettered plan are standardized federally: a Plan G in one state covers the same services as a Plan G in another. Premiums can shift, though, because they’re priced against local healthcare costs. Some insurers adjust your rate after a move; others don’t. Report your new address to your Medigap insurer and ask what happens to your premium.

Guaranteed Issue Rights if You Leave Medicare Advantage

If you’re leaving a Medicare Advantage plan because you moved out of its service area and want to return to Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, you get guaranteed issue rights. A Medigap insurer cannot deny you coverage or charge more because of pre-existing conditions, and you have 63 days from the date your previous coverage ends to apply under these rights.11Medicare. Can I Switch or Drop My Medigap Policy Outside guaranteed issue situations, Medigap insurers in most states can use medical underwriting, so missing that 63-day window can leave you unable to get a policy at all if you have significant health issues.

Snowbirds and Extended Absences

Splitting the year between two homes usually isn’t a permanent move, so you don’t need to change your official address with SSA. Medicare Advantage plans can disenroll members who spend extended periods outside the service area, though. Many allow absences of up to six months; some permit up to 12 months of continuous travel inside the U.S. Read your plan’s rules about temporary absences before you leave for the season. Original Medicare has no such restriction inside the country.

Moving Into a Long-Term Care Facility

Moving into a nursing home, rehabilitation hospital, or similar institution triggers its own Special Enrollment Period. While you live in the facility you can join or switch Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, drop Medicare Advantage and return to Original Medicare, or drop Part D drug coverage. That window continues for two full months after you move out.9Medicare. Special Enrollment Periods Institutional care often changes which coverage makes sense, since a plan’s local network may not include the facility’s doctors and its formulary may not cover medications prescribed there.

Moving Outside the United States

Medicare generally does not pay for healthcare received outside the United States, with only very limited exceptions.6Medicare. Medicare Coverage Outside the United States If you’re relocating abroad permanently or for an extended period, you have to decide whether to keep paying Part B premiums for coverage you likely won’t use.

Dropping Part B saves the monthly premium, but re-enrolling later can be expensive. Without a Special Enrollment Period when you return, you may have to wait for the General Enrollment Period from January through March, with coverage starting in July, and pay a late enrollment penalty that permanently raises your Part B premium by 10% for each full 12-month period you were eligible but not enrolled. One exception: if you or your spouse worked abroad for an employer that provided health coverage, you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period without penalty when you return. Keep documentation of any foreign employer health coverage, because you’ll need it to avoid the penalty.