2025 | Three Top Tips Financial Advisors Need to Know During Medicare Open Enrollment

Retirees are one of the largest client segments advisors work with, which means you likely have clients who are currently on Medicare. 

Medicare Open Enrollment starts on October 15th, so now is a great time to start preparing! As a reminder, Medicare Open Enrollment is the period from October 15th - December 7th when your clients who are on Medicare can join, switch, or drop a plan. More specifically, during the annual Open Enrollment period, clients can: 

• - Change from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan.

• - Change from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare.

• - Switch from one Medicare Part D drug plan to another Medicare Part D drug plan.

• - Switch from one Medicare Advantage Plan to another Medicare Advantage Plan. 

• - Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan that doesn't offer drug coverage to a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers drug coverage.

• - Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers drug coverage to a Medicare Advantage Plan that doesn't offer drug coverage.

• - Join a Medicare drug plan.

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With so much possible during this short window, we’re sharing a few key tips to ensure you and your client make the best Medicare choices possible for their needs, preferences, goals, and budget to make the Open Enrollment period less daunting.

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Don’t wait until the last minute.

Perhaps a bit obvious, but it’s important enough that it needs to be stated. Plus, we don’t just mean the actual act of enrolling in a Medicare plan. 

For you, the financial advisor, to successfully help clients enroll in Medicare, you also need to get a head start on having healthcare planning conversations with clients. September and October are great months to schedule a meeting with clients to discuss healthcare coverage and the upcoming Open Enrollment season. 

This leads us to our next tip for financial advisors on how to have a successful Medicare Open Enrollment conversation.

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Remember to look at more than just monthly premium costs. 

Sure, the monthly costs are important. But they aren’t the only cost that’s important to consider. 

As a comprehensive financial advisor, it’s up to you to help clients consider all the costs associated with Medicare and how they fit into their larger financial plan. For example, let’s talk about drug coverage. 

Here’s what not to do: Your client wants to keep their healthcare costs low, so they choose a plan with a low monthly premium. You say, “Great, go ahead and enroll.” However, neither of you checked to see if the plan provides comprehensive enough drug coverage for the client’s current prescription list, and they end up paying more on an annual basis because of this oversight.

When reviewing health plan options with clients, you’ll want to consider monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs. However, if this feels out of your wheelhouse, you can always partner with Move Health instead.

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Look at clients’ healthcare needs from the last year.

Taking the time to look at how frequently clients utilize the healthcare system can make a big difference in your healthcare planning conversations. Review how many medications they took over the last year and their costs, how frequently your client visited healthcare providers and the out-of-pocket costs associated with those visits, and their monthly healthcare coverage premiums. 

If your client suspects their needs will remain the same, review their current plan to see if any coverage will change. For example, a medication that was covered last year under their current plan might not be covered next year under the same plan. Another example is that their medication will still be covered, but the pharmacy they typically get the medication from won’t be considered “in-network” next year under their current plan. Contracts change every year, so never assume that just because a plan covered something last year means it’ll be covered next year under the same plan.

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Moving Forward

Let’s say that you’re on board with all these tips and want to ensure you set your Medicare clients up for success during Open Enrollment, but it sounds like a lot of work. The truth is that to do it correctly, it is! Does this mean you have to completely abandon the idea of helping Medicare clients with Open Enrollment?

Not at all. Instead, you can implement an “easy button” for Medicare Open Enrollment by enlisting the help of Move Health. Our healthcare planning software and team of licensed agents streamline the process from beginning to end. 

If you’re not ready to commit, you can still prepare for Open Enrollment by reading our blogs and guides throughout the Medicare Open Enrollment and ACA (Marketplace) Open Enrollment season.