Medicare open enrollment generally occurs from October 15 to December 7 each year.
According to Medicare guidelines, you’re only allowed to be enrolled in one Medicare plan at a time. This means that if you or your MAPD-eligible dependents enroll in another Medicare plan — whether it’s a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), prescription drug plan (Part D) — Medicare will automatically disenroll you from your current Aetna DoD MAPD plan. This applies even if the other Medicare plan you enroll in offers $0 premium, or no cost to enroll.
If you’re the retiree, enrolling in any other Medicare plan will result in termination of your NAF retiree medical and dental coverage for both you and your covered dependents. If you’re the MAPD-eligible dependent, your medical and dental coverage will be terminated.
If you do decide to enroll in another Medicare plan for the upcoming year and to disenroll from your current DoD NAF medical and dental coverage, contact HQ Benefits at 800-519-3381 or benefits@aafes.com. Keep in mind that if you disenroll you and any dependents will lose coverage permanently – you won’t be able to re-enroll in the future.
Throughout the year and perhaps more so as Medicare open enrollment approaches, you will see news articles or social media posts regarding changes to Medicare Advantage plans, some specific to Aetna.
The Aetna Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan for Exchange retirees and covered dependents 65 and over is an EMPLOYER plan not an INDIVIDUAL Medicare Advantage Plan. Generally, the news regarding Medicare Advantage plans apply to individual plans and that is the same for Aetna.
Exchange retirees and dependents covered by any Aetna plans, to include the Aetna Medicare Advantage plan, will be notified of any changes to the plans. Also remember to check NAF Health Benefits for updated information.