Kivulink
Protected from penalties and bad-fit plans.
Book my free reviewMiss a Medicare window and the penalty follows you for as long as you hold the coverage.
- Comes round every yearThe same two windows, every year, for everyone already on Medicare.
- Happens once, for youYour Initial Enrollment Period is set by your own birthday and does not repeat.
A Special Enrollment Period is the third kind and has no fixed date: it opens when employer coverage ends, and runs 8 months for Part B and 2 months for Part D. Federal rules, current as of the review date on this page. Confirm your own dates at medicare.gov.
Every window, and what it costs to miss one.
Most Medicare mistakes are not plan choices. They are dates, and the price of a missed date is usually permanent.
| Window | When | What you can do | Miss it and |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Enrollment Period | 7 months around your 65th birthday: the 3 months before your birthday month, that month, and the 3 months after. | Join Part A and Part B for the first time, and pick a Part D or Advantage plan. | You wait for another window and may start a lifelong penalty. |
| Special Enrollment Period | Up to 8 months after employer coverage ends for Part B, and 2 months for Part D. | Move off a group plan without any penalty at all. | You fall back to the General Enrollment Period and the Part B penalty starts. |
| Annual Enrollment Period | October 15 to December 7 every year. Changes start January 1. | Switch Advantage plans, switch Part D, or move between Original Medicare and Advantage. | Your current plan rolls over, including any change the carrier made to it. |
| Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment | January 1 to March 31, if you are already on an Advantage plan. | One change: switch to a different Advantage plan, or return to Original Medicare. | You keep the plan until the next October. |
| General Enrollment Period | January 1 to March 31. | Sign up for Part B if you missed your first chance. Coverage starts the month after you enrol. | Another year uncovered, and the penalty keeps climbing. |
The Part B late penalty is an extra 10% of the standard premium for every full 12 months you could have enrolled and did not, and you pay it for as long as you hold Part B. Part D works the same way at roughly 1% per month without creditable drug coverage. Neither penalty ever expires. This is the single most expensive avoidable mistake in Medicare, and it is entirely a calendar problem.
Penalty amounts are set by federal rule and are calculated from the year's standard premium, so the dollar figure changes annually. Nothing on this page is a benefit determination. Confirm your situation with medicare.gov or with us.
Advantage, or Original plus a Supplement.
Almost every Medicare conversation comes down to this one choice. Both are legitimate. They fail in different ways, and the failure modes are what nobody explains.
Medicare Advantage
Part C. One plan from a private carrier replaces how your Medicare is administered.
- Monthly cost
- Often low, sometimes zero on top of your Part B premium.
- Doctors
- A network. Going outside it costs more, or is not covered at all.
- Drugs and extras
- Usually bundled, and dental, vision or hearing are often included.
- What you pay when you are ill
- Copays and coinsurance as you go, up to an annual out-of-pocket maximum.
- The risk
- A low monthly cost and a high bill in a bad year. The network is the thing to check before you sign, not after.
Original Medicare plus a Supplement
Also called Medigap. Original Medicare pays first, the Supplement covers most of what is left.
- Monthly cost
- A higher premium every month, plus a separate Part D plan for drugs.
- Doctors
- Any provider in the country that accepts Medicare. No network to check.
- Drugs and extras
- Bought separately. Dental and vision are not included.
- What you pay when you are ill
- Very little, depending on the Supplement plan letter you hold.
- The risk
- You pay steadily whether you are ill or not, and switching to a Supplement later can require medical underwriting.
Plan availability, networks, benefits and premiums vary by county and by year, and no plan is right for everyone. We are an independent agency and are not connected with or endorsed by the federal government or the Medicare program. Carriers pay our commission at no additional cost to you.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1–800–MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, to get information on all of your options. Kivulink Insurance Services is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency or the federal Medicare program.
Your plan changes even when you do nothing.
Carriers redraw their plans each year. A drug moves to a different tier, a hospital leaves the network, a copay goes up, the dental allowance shrinks. None of it requires your consent, and the notice arrives in an envelope that looks like every other envelope.
So we re-check every client's plan against the new year's options during the October window, whether or not anything has changed for you.
If your plan is still the best fit, that is the answer and it takes ten minutes. The review is free, and it is free whether we placed the original plan or not.
Medicare questions, answered.
What does using an agent cost me?
Nothing. Carriers pay our commission, and it is the same whether you enrol through us, through the carrier directly, or on your own. The price of the plan does not change.
I am still working at 65. Do I have to take Part B?
Often not, if you have creditable coverage through an employer. That is what the Special Enrollment Period exists for. But "creditable" is a specific test, and small-employer plans frequently fail it, so check before you decline rather than after.
Can I switch from Advantage to a Supplement later?
Sometimes, and it is easier said than done. Outside your one guaranteed-issue window, a Supplement carrier can ask health questions and decline you. Anyone who expects their health to change should weigh that at the start rather than assume the door stays open.
I am on both Medicare and Medicaid. What applies to me?
You may qualify for a Dual Special Needs Plan, which is built for exactly that situation and usually carries extra benefits. Dual eligibility also opens enrolment windows other people do not get.
Does Medicare cover dental, vision or hearing?
Original Medicare largely does not. Many Advantage plans include some coverage, and standalone dental and vision policies are available alongside a Supplement. We quote those in the same conversation.
Do you speak my language?
Our advisors work in English, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, French, Kirundi, Spanish, Dari and Pashto. Medicare paperwork is difficult enough in a first language.
Medicare carriers we hold 10+
One application is rated by all of them. Appointments vary by state and no carrier writes every product everywhere. See the full network.
Written and reviewed by Innocent Muvunyi, Licensed Insurance Agent.
NPN 22182172. AHIP certified, CMS FFM registered.
Last reviewed .
Check this licence with the Texas Department of Insurance.