If you do nothing during open enrollment, your current employer-sponsored health plan usually renews automatically, but potentially with higher premiums or different coverage terms. If you lack existing coverage, you will likely remain uninsured and unable to enroll in a new plan until the next year, unless you have a qualifying life event.
If they fail to make any changes to their benefit elections during open enrollment, the benefits plan rules may require their previous elections to remain in place, and they may have to wait until the next open enrollment period to enroll in or to make changes to their benefits coverage.
Certain life events qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period. A Special Enrollment Period is a period of time (usually 60 days) during which you can buy a health plan, even if it's outside the normal Open Enrollment Period. The events that trigger a Special Enrollment Period are called qualifying life events.
If you do nothing during the Medicare Open Enrollment period, your coverage under traditional Medicare plus stand-alone drug coverage, if applicable, will continue uninterrupted next year (assuming your stand-alone drug plan will continue to be offered).
During open enrollment, you can enroll in or make changes to health insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, and other employee benefits offered through your workplace or the government marketplace. These are some common adjustments you can make to your benefits during open enrollment: Enroll in new benefits.
Example: If you waited 2 full years (24 months) to sign up for Part B and didn't qualify for a Special Enrollment Period, you'll have to pay a 20% late enrollment penalty (10% for each full 12-month period that you could have signed up), plus the standard Part B monthly premium ($202.90 in 2026).
Outside of open enrollment, cancellation is typically only allowed for life status change events. Examples include marriage, divorce, having a baby, leaving the company, or significant plan changes. Special enrollment periods may vary in length but generally allow changes within 60 days of the qualifying event.
Here are some of the biggest Medicare mistakes to avoid:
An open enrollment grace period isn't a standard time after the main window, but rather a short extension (often 30 days) that some employers or carriers offer to finalize selections, while missing enrollment typically leads to waiting for the next period or qualifying for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) due to life events like marriage, a new baby, or losing other coverage.
Employees who feel their benefits are unclear or impersonal are less likely to trust their employer or feel supported at work. In short, when benefits feel confusing, they stop feeling like benefits at all. Or, as one employee might put it: “Open enrollment shouldn't feel like speed-dating your health plan.”
Individual/Family and Group health coverage sold in California only allows new membership during an annual open enrollment period. Enrollment works this way because if people were allowed to purchase insurance anytime, people could wait until they got sick and the system wouldn't work.
The 90-day rule in health insurance, established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sets a maximum 90-day waiting period before an otherwise eligible employee's group health coverage must begin. This rule prevents long "probationary periods" for benefits and ensures fairness, applying to both fully insured and self-funded plans, though employers can offer coverage sooner or not at all, as long as the wait doesn't exceed this federal limit.
If an employee has a qualifying life event, they can be given more time to add, remove or cancel coverage through a special enrollment period. A special enrollment period is a window (usually 60 days) during which you can enroll in health insurance plans, even if it falls outside your company's open enrollment period.
There's no federal penalty for cancelling health insurance, but some states (CA, MA, NJ, RI, DC) have their own mandates and will charge a state tax penalty if you're uninsured. The main risks of cancelling are losing coverage (and facing high medical costs), being unable to get new insurance until the next Open Enrollment unless you have a Qualifying Life Event, and potentially having to repay premium tax credits if you received them.
Medicare open enrollment — your opportunity to choose a Part D prescription plan or Medicare Advantage plan for the next year — always ends Dec. 7. If you missed the annual sign-up period that starts Oct. 15, even by one day, you'll be automatically reenrolled in your current plan as long as it's offered in your area.
Generally, you're first eligible to sign up for Part A and Part B starting 3 months before you turn 65 and ending 3 months after the month you turn 65. (You may be eligible for Medicare earlier, if you get disability benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board.)
For 2025, the standard Medicare Part B premium is $185 per month, with higher earners paying Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA) on top of that, while most people get a lower premium due to the "hold harmless" rule protecting Social Security recipients from premium increases larger than their COLA. Part A is often free, but Part B costs vary, so check your Social Security statement for your exact amount.