Health and Life
Medicare in Minnesota
Advantage, Supplement, and Part D — explained without the sales pressure.
Medicare is confusing and the mail does not help. There are only a few real decisions to make.
In Minnesota
Medicare Supplement works differently here. Minnesota law sets the plan designs instead of the federal Plan A-to-N lineup, so most of what you read online about Plan G does not apply in this state.
Written by Pat Bernauer, licensed Minnesota insurance agent (NPN 32897) · Updated
The short answer
Medicare gives you a seven-month window to sign up — the three months before the month you turn 65, that month, and the three after — and missing it can mean a lasting Part B penalty unless you still have coverage through current employment. The decisions after that are few: Original Medicare with a supplement and a Part D drug plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan. In Minnesota, insurance companies sell supplements built to Minnesota’s rules, such as the Basic and Extended Basic plans, not the lettered plans the national ads describe. We lay both routes out side by side and let you choose.
- Initial Enrollment Period:
- starts 3 months before the month you turn 65 and ends 3 months after it — Medicare.gov
- 2026 Part B:
- $202.90 a month standard premium; $283 annual deductible — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Minnesota supplements:
- Basic, Extended Basic and a few other plans built to Minnesota’s rules, in place of the lettered plans — Medicare.gov
How we can help
Call before your 65th birthday rather than after. On Medicare the timing is worth more than the plan choice.
- Work out which enrollment window you are in, and what a missed one costs you permanently.
- Check your prescriptions against each Part D drug list — this is where most people lose the most money.
- Compare Advantage against Supplement honestly, including what each one costs you ten years from now.
- Enroll you, then look at it again each fall when the plans change underneath you.
You’ll work with Pat or Spencer directly. Whoever quotes it is the person who answers when you call about it later.
We’ll come back to you quickly, and it costs you nothing either way.
Medicare Annual Enrollment — 2027 coverage
For everyone on Medicare. Join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Changes take effect January 1.
- Enroll between:
- October 15, 2026 and December 7, 2026
- Coverage starts:
- January 1
Annual Enrollment is the main event: anyone on Medicare can change Advantage and Part D plans then. The January-to-March window below is only a second chance for people already in an Advantage plan. Neither is the window for signing up for Medicare in the first place — that one is built around your 65th birthday, or, if you reach Medicare through disability, around your 25th month of benefits.
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment — 2027 coverage
Only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1. You can make one change: switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or return to Original Medicare with a Part D plan. It cannot be used to join Medicare Advantage from Original Medicare.
- Enroll between:
- January 1, 2027 and March 31, 2027
- Coverage starts:
- the first of the following month
Send us what you have
Fill in what you know. Anything you leave blank, we’ll sort out on the phone. It goes to Pat and Spencer, not to a call center.
More about Medicare
- Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans
- Medicare Supplement / Medigap plans
- Part D prescription drug coverage
- Prescription formulary checks against your medications
- Initial and annual enrollment period guidance
- Late enrollment penalty avoidance
- Help if you are still working past 65
- In-person meetings at your home, a coffee shop, or our office
Minnesota insurance guides