IEP
Initial Enrollment Period
Your first chance to sign up. Miss it and you may face a penalty.
The 7 months around your 65th birthday
The deadlines that actually matter.
Medicare has more acronyms than the Pentagon. Here are the five windows worth remembering — and how to sail through them without a penalty.
GEP
General Enrollment Period
For folks who missed their IEP. Coverage starts the month after enrollment.
Jan 1 – Mar 31 each year
AEP
Annual Enrollment Period
Switch or join Advantage / Part D plans for the following year.
Oct 15 – Dec 7 each year
OEP
Open Enrollment Period
Advantage-to-Advantage swap window. One change allowed.
Jan 1 – Mar 31 each year
SEP
Special Enrollment Period
Change plans outside the normal windows. Rules vary.
Life events (moved, lost coverage, etc.)
The penalty nobody warns you about
Skip Part B or Part D when you're first eligible without qualifying coverage? You'll pay a permanent monthly penalty. Not for a year. For life. This is the single most common (and painful) Medicare mistake — and it's 100% avoidable.
Video guide5:41
Enrollment walkthrough: your first 90 days on Medicare
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