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Medicare

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 standardized its plans before the federal Plan A-to-N system existed, so most of what you read online about Plan G or Plan N does not apply in this state.

Get Medicare helpMedicare enrollment dates

Written by Pat Bernauer, licensed Minnesota insurance agent (NPN 32897) · Reviewed by Spencer Bernauer (NPN 18100632) · Updated

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 autumn 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.

Call Pat · 952-457-5894Start the form

We’ll come back to you quickly, and it costs you nothing either way.

Medicare Annual Enrollment — 2027 coverage

The main window, for everyone on Medicare. Join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, and move between Original Medicare and Advantage in either direction. 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.

All Minnesota enrollment dates →

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment — 2027 coverage

A second, narrower window — only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1. One change: switch to a different Advantage plan, or go back to Original Medicare with a Part D plan. It cannot be used to join an Advantage plan from Original Medicare — that is usually Annual Enrollment, but not always: being new to Medicare, or a change like employer coverage ending, opens a window of its own. Ask before you assume you have to wait until October.

Enroll between:
January 1, 2027 and March 31, 2027
Coverage starts:
the first of the following month
All Minnesota enrollment dates →

Send us what you have

Fill in what you know. Anything you leave blank, we’ll sort out on the phone. It goes straight to Pat and Spencer, not to a call center.

Step 1 of 3

Your Medicare StatusOnly the fields marked * are required. Fill in whatever else you know.

MM/DD/YYYY

On your Medicare card, if you have it.

Your answers are not sent until the last step.

More about Medicare

Part A covers hospital stays and is usually premium-free if you worked enough quarters. Part B covers doctors and outpatient care and has a monthly premium. Together those are Original Medicare, and they leave gaps. Part D covers prescriptions. What you decide is how to handle the gaps.

  • 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

A Medicare Advantage plan replaces Original Medicare with a private plan that usually bundles drug coverage and extras, with a network and copays. A Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, sits alongside Original Medicare and pays the gaps, with a higher monthly premium but far fewer surprises and no network. Which is better depends on your health, your budget, your prescriptions, and whether you travel. Anyone who tells you one is always better is selling.

Medicare is the one product where we really do prefer to sit down with you face to face. There is a lot to go through, the decisions are harder to undo than people expect, and it is much easier to compare plans with the paperwork on the table between us. We are happy to meet at a coffee shop, come to your house, or have you stop by the office — whatever is easiest for you. If you would rather do it over the phone that is fine too, but the offer is there and there is no cost either way.

Your Initial Enrollment Period runs seven months around your sixty-fifth birthday. Miss it without other creditable coverage and you can face permanent late penalties on Part B and Part D. There is also a one-time Medigap open enrollment window when you can buy a Supplement without medical underwriting — after that, carriers can turn you down for health reasons. That window is easy to miss and impossible to get back.

Minnesota health insurance, explained

Guides that go with this

Looking for something else?

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 11 organizations which offer 36 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.