California only
Most states give you one chance to choose a Medicare Supplement policy without health questions, and after that you answer them. California is different. If you already hold a Medicare Supplement policy here, a window opens on your birthday every single year, and it does not close as you get older.
It opens on your birthday and runs for sixty days. Within it you may move to a different Medicare Supplement policy with equal or fewer benefits than the one you hold now.
No health questions. No new waiting period. Your health is not a reason you can be turned down or charged more during that window.
Keeping the same kind of coverage and moving it to a different insurance company. What one company charges for a policy is not what another charges, and those amounts change over time.
The rule exists so you are not stuck with whichever company you chose years ago simply because your health has changed since.
People who already hold a Medicare Supplement policy in California. The window is for changing from one supplement policy to another.
If you are on a Medicare Advantage plan rather than a supplement, this particular window is not the one that applies to you. A different set of rules covers that, and it is worth asking about rather than assuming.
It does not let you move to a policy with more benefits than the one you hold. The rule is written as equal or fewer.
Which specific moves count as equal or fewer is not always obvious, and companies do not all read it the same way. That is a question worth asking before you apply, not after.
It comes round every year. Most people hear about the Birthday Rule once, use it or do not, and then forget it exists. It is worth putting on a calendar the way you would a renewal date, because the window is the same length whether you are sixty-six or eighty-six.
Your insurance company is required to tell you about this right before your birthday. Notices arrive in a stack of other mail, so it is easy to miss one.
The rule sits in California Insurance Code section 10192.11. You do not need to read the statute to use the right, but it is there if you want to see it in the state's own words rather than ours.
California's Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP) gives free, unbiased Medicare counseling through the state's SHIP program. In San Diego County it runs through Aging & Independence Services. Talking to them alongside a licensed agent costs nothing either way, and it is a reasonable thing to do before changing a policy you have held for years.
Two ways to do this
Or call (619) 382-3810 and speak with a Licensed Insurance Agent, Mon–Fri, 8:30am–5pm PT.
Not sure where you stand yet? Answer two questions and we'll point you at the right part.