Medicare Season Kit: Get Through Open Enrollment Without Getting Taken

Every fall your Medicare plan can change what it costs, which drugs it covers and which doctors it works with, and most people never check. Meanwhile the phone starts ringing and the mailbox fills up. This kit gets you, or a parent you help, through open enrollment (October 15 to December 7) with the right plan and without handing your Medicare number to a stranger.

What's inside (14 pages):

• The step-by-step guide: read the letter your plan already sent, make three lists, and compare plans the free, official way
• Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage in plain English, plus the Medigap trap to know about before you switch
• Spot the setup: the scam and pushy-sales rules, and what to do if you already gave out your number
• Helping a parent: how to get on file so Medicare will talk to you
• The seven-question sheet: fill in one box at a time, nothing to read ahead
• Copy-and-paste prompts so Claude or ChatGPT can organize your paperwork, with a rule built in that makes it write NOT FOUND instead of guessing
• The one-page checklist

What it is not: insurance advice. We don't sell insurance, we aren't paid by any plan, and we will never tell you which plan to buy. The kit points you to the free, unbiased counselors who are allowed to help you choose (SHIP; in Washington it's SHIBA).

2027 numbers checked on medicare.gov in October 2026.