From January 1 – March 31 each year, if you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan or switch to Original Medicare (and join a separate Medicare drug plan) once during this time. If you enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan during your Initial Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7 last year) you can change to another Medicare Advantage Plan or go back to Original Medicare within the first 3 months of 2021.

To help kidney patients explore their options, Dialysis Patient Citizens has established Dialysis Plan Choice, an online tool designed in collaboration with Consumers’ Checkbook for dialysis patients to quickly and easily compare options available to them through Medicare Advantage. DialysisPlanChoice.org helps patients and caregivers more easily understand what plans are available to them, the costs are associated with those plans, and, most importantly, which plans will include their care providers.

Dialysis Plan Choice, available at www.DialysisPlanChoice.org, provides patients with a convenient side-by-side comparison of available Medicare Advantage plans, including a cost comparison tool as well as information on whether their current nephrologist and dialysis clinic are included in a Medicare Advantage network. Using Dialysis Plan Choice, patients will also be able to see whether their medications are on Medicare Advantage plan formularies and access information on additional benefits that are not available through traditional Medicare plans, such as dental, vision and hearing services.  All of this information is displayed in a simple, mobile-friendly manner that helps patients to easily compare plans using their preferred devices.