Compare Medicare plans with AI during Open Enrollment

Who is this for?

This page is for someone in Medicare Open Enrollment who wants the plan packet in plain English before they join, switch, or stay. You bring this year's notice and the numbers you copied from Medicare's own plan comparison. The chat reads only that. You decide.

This is Medicare. It is not a job's open enrollment, and it is not a HealthCare.gov plan. Medicare's Marketplace page says Medicare's Open Enrollment is not part of the Marketplace, and that you do not need to do anything with the Marketplace during Medicare's Open Enrollment if you already have Medicare. A Summary of Benefits from an employer or from HealthCare.gov stays on Compare health plans with AI. That guide is the other calendar. Do not mix the two packets in one chat.

This is not insurance advice. This is not medical advice. This is not financial advice. A chat does not know your doctors, your drugs, or next year's claims. It must not tell you which plan to join. If you want a person, Medicare.gov says you can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048. The same page says you can contact your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program for free personalized counseling, and that SHIPs are not connected to any insurance company or health plan. Find the local program at shiphelp.org or call 877-839-2675. shiphelp.org says the counseling is one-on-one and at no cost to you.

Medicare.gov's Open Enrollment page says Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7. Changes are effective January 1 of the next year, and the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7. Medicare's joining-a-plan page lists that same fall window, and a separate Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment from January 1 to March 31, only if you are already in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Read that page before you act on a different window. The chat does not invent a deadline.

The habit underneath is Give it the numbers. You pull the figure. The chat organizes it. A confident sentence about a premium you did not paste is a fact the AI made up.

What do you need before you start?

Gather the official pages and the paper before you open a chat.

• Medicare.gov/plan-compare. Medicare's joining-a-plan page says to compare plans in your area there, add the prescription drugs you take regularly for a monthly and yearly cost estimate, and select Enroll on that page when you are ready to join. Medicare's helpful-tools page says you can enter the drugs you take to get an estimate of monthly and yearly drug costs. Copy the premium, the deductible, and that drug estimate onto your own note. Those are the numbers. The chat does not look them up.
• The Plan Annual Notice of Change, if you are already in a Medicare plan. Medicare's ANOC page says your plan sends it each fall, it includes changes in coverage, costs, and more that will be effective in January, and you should get it in September. If you do not get it, contact the plan.
• A list you write: doctors you want to keep, the pharmacy you use, and each drug's name and dose. Medicare's joining-a-plan page says to ask your doctors and pharmacies if they are in network with the plan, and to check that the plan covers your prescriptions.
• The phone numbers above, written down before anyone calls you.

You do not need a paid AI plan. You do need the Medicare.gov page open. A chat that "knows Medicare" and has not seen your notice is guessing.

Leave the Medicare card in a drawer. Keep your data private with AI.

How do you start on Medicare.gov/plan-compare?

Open medicare.gov/plan-compare yourself. Medicare's pages describe it as the place to compare Medicare Advantage plans, other Medicare health plans, and Medicare drug plans in your area, and to enroll. Type your drugs there, on Medicare's site, so the cost estimate is Medicare's estimate. Write down, for each plan you are actually considering:

• the plan name printed on the screen
• the monthly premium
• the deductible
• the estimated drug cost Medicare's tool showed, monthly and yearly if both are on the screen
• the date you looked

If a box on the screen is blank, write NOT ON THE SCREEN. Do not ask the chat to fill it. Do not ask the chat which plan is cheapest before those numbers exist in your note. Cheapest is a comparison you can see after the numbers are pasted, and it is still not a recommendation.

Enrollment stays on Medicare.gov, on the plan's own site, or with 1-800-MEDICARE. Medicare's joining-a-plan page names those three ways. The chat has no Enroll button that counts.

How do you translate the Annual Notice of Change?

Paste the cost pages of the ANOC, not the member number in the header. Ask for a quote, then plain English. A translation that adds a benefit is not a translation.

You are helping me read a Medicare Plan Annual Notice of Change. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice. Do not tell me which plan to join.

Plan name printed on the notice: [name]. Year of the changes: [year on the notice].
I pasted the pages below. Use only those words.

For each cost change, quote the line, then say it in one plain sentence.
Cover premium, deductible, and any drug cost the notice itself states.
If a row is not in my paste, write NOT IN THE NOTICE. Do not fill it from memory.
Do not say a doctor, a pharmacy, or a drug is covered. You cannot see the network or the drug list.
Then stop.

[paste the notice, with the Medicare number removed]

Read the quotes with your finger on the paper. If the chat says "your drugs will cost less" and the notice does not name your drug, cross that sentence out.

Three places to use the same reading. Copy the one that matches you.

Life, when the notice is yours:

This is not insurance advice and not medical advice. Do not tell me which plan to join.

The notice is below. Quote every January cost change. Under each quote, one plain sentence.
If my drug is not named in the paste, write NOT IN THE NOTICE.
Then stop.

[paste]

Work, on your own time. The notice is not a work file. Do not put it in a work chat.

I am on a personal account. This Medicare notice is not a work file. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice.

Quote the premium and deductible lines only. Plain English under each quote.
Do not email my employer. Do not mention my job.
If a number is not in the paste, write NOT IN THE NOTICE.
Then stop.

[paste]

School, when you are learning how the notice is organized. You write anything you turn in. Follow your teacher's rules. Use a sample your teacher gave you, or your own notice with the Medicare number removed, and only if the teacher said you may.

This is for learning. Do not write anything I will turn in. Follow my teacher's rules. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice.

I am reading this notice:
[paste]

Ask me to point to the premium and one cost that changes in January.
Wait for my answer. Then tell me which sentence matches the notice and which does not. Quote the line.
Do not write a paragraph I could turn in. Do not tell me which plan a person should join.
Then stop.

How do you paste the numbers and ask for a table and questions?

This is the handoff. You already copied premium, deductible, and the drug estimate from Medicare.gov/plan-compare. You paste those figures. The chat builds a table and a question list. It does not go get new prices. The move is Give it the numbers.

Build a comparison from numbers I copied. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice. Do not tell me which plan to join. Do not look up prices.

Source of the numbers: Medicare.gov/plan-compare, which I had open on [date].
My drugs, name and dose, for my own checklist: [list]. Do not say they are covered.

Plan A name: [name]
Premium: [number I copied]
Deductible: [number I copied]
Drug cost estimate from the Medicare tool: [number I copied, and whether it was monthly or yearly]

Plan B name: [name]
Premium: [number I copied]
Deductible: [number I copied]
Drug cost estimate from the Medicare tool: [number I copied]

Make a table with those rows only.
Show premium times 12, and label it PREMIUM TIMES 12.
If I gave both a monthly and a yearly drug estimate, do not add them together.
If a cell was blank in my note, write NOT ON THE SCREEN. Do not guess a typical cost.
Then give me a question list I can ask the plan, 1-800-MEDICARE, or a SHIP counselor.
Questions only. No recommendation. No winner.
Then stop.

Check the multiplication yourself. Twelve times the premium is a calculator. If the chat's total includes a copay you did not type, delete the total. Ask for a tool, not an answer if you want the arithmetic in a form you can redo. You still type the premium.

A household budget is a different job. The rent and the grocery list live on Make a monthly budget. A Medicare premium does not go in that budget until you have the figure from Medicare.gov or from the plan.

How do you confirm doctors, the pharmacy, and the drugs with a person?

The table is a reading. Coverage is a check you do outside the chat. Medicare's joining-a-plan page says to make sure the plan covers your prescriptions and the benefits you need, to ask your doctors and pharmacies if they are in network, and to review the premium, the deductible, and the drug-cost estimate.

Build a checklist I will verify myself. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice. You cannot see the current network or the drug list. Do not say anyone is in network. Do not say a drug is covered.

Doctors: [names].
Pharmacy: [name].
Drugs, name and dose: [list].
Plans I am checking: [names from my note].

One row per doctor, one row for the pharmacy, one row per drug.
Each row has a blank for the date I checked and a blank for what the plan, the office, or the pharmacy said.
Tell me to check, in this order:
- Medicare.gov/plan-compare, where I enter my drugs
- the plan's own directory and drug list
- a call to the office or the pharmacy to ask if they are in this plan's network
- 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048) or a SHIP counselor at shiphelp.org, 877-839-2675

Do not fill in the blanks. Then stop.

A row without a date is a row you have not done. A "yes" from last fall is not a yes for January.

How do you help a parent compare without taking over?

Use this step when you are the adult child and the plan belongs to a parent. You are a reader and a note-taker. You are not the enrollee unless they have asked you to help and they are making the choice.

Sit together, or be on the phone. Ask before you open their mail. Read the ANOC out loud and let them say what they want to keep: a doctor, a pharmacy, a drug. They log in to Medicare.gov, or they sit next to you while you type on the plan-compare page. You write the premium, the deductible, and the drug estimate on a note they can see. Then you use the prompts above.

Do not put their Medicare number, Social Security number, bank account, or a photo of the card into a chat, a text, or an email to a stranger. Medicare's fraud page says not to give those out except to a doctor or to people you know should have them, and it names SHIP as one of those people. A counselor is a phone call they choose. A chat box is not SHIP.

shiphelp.org says local SHIP counselors can help compare costs, review coverage, and check provider networks during Open Enrollment, at no cost. Offer to dial 877-839-2675 with them, or 1-800-MEDICARE. Stay on the call if they want you there. They answer the questions about their own care. You do not tell the counselor which plan they "should" pick, and you do not let the chat tell them either.

If a salesperson, a relative you do not know well, or a pop-up offers to enroll them, stop. The next section is the rule. Your job is the paper and the official page, then their decision.

I am helping my parent read their Medicare papers. They gave me permission. They will decide. This is not insurance advice and not medical advice. Do not tell us which plan to join.

I will not paste their Medicare number or Social Security number.
Notice quotes and the numbers we copied from Medicare.gov/plan-compare are below.
[paste]

Make a short table of those numbers, and a list of questions my parent can ask a SHIP counselor in their own words.
Questions only. No recommendation.
If a fact is not in the paste, write NOT IN OUR NOTES.
Then stop.

What does a worked example look like?

You and your mother have the ANOC on the table. She is already in a Medicare Advantage plan. You do not type her Medicare number. She opens medicare.gov/plan-compare and adds the two prescriptions she takes. You write the premium, the deductible, and the drug estimate for her current plan and for one other plan in her area, and you write today's date.

You paste the ANOC cost pages. The chat says a specialist visit is "cheaper next year." The notice says a dollar amount. You replace "cheaper" with the notice's line. You paste the six numbers you wrote down. The table shows premium times 12. You multiply on a calculator. One cell says the drug estimate and the premium were added into a single "yearly cost." You did not ask for that sum, and the drug figure was already a yearly estimate. You delete the sum.

The question list asks whether her cardiologist and her pharmacy are in the new plan's network. The chat does not answer yes. She calls the office. She calls the pharmacy. Then she calls the SHIP number on shiphelp.org. You sit with her. She decides. The Enroll button, if she uses one, is on Medicare.gov.

A Marketplace plan in a spouse's packet does not go in this table. That comparison is Compare health plans with AI.

What mistakes should you avoid?

These are the misses that waste the result. Skip them before you send anything.

Common mistakes

• Asking "which Medicare plan is cheapest" before you have opened Medicare.gov/plan-compare.
• Using a job's enrollment deadline, or HealthCare.gov's dates, for a Medicare plan.
• Pasting the Medicare number so the chat can "pull the account." It cannot, and it should not have the number.
• Treating the ANOC as the live doctor directory. It is a notice of changes. The directory and the drug list are a separate check.
• Letting an adult child's chat enroll a parent. The parent decides, on Medicare.gov, with the plan, or with 1-800-MEDICARE.
• Calling a broker who phoned the house the same thing as a SHIP counselor. Medicare.gov says SHIPs are not connected to a plan.

When should you not use AI for this?

Close the chat and use Medicare.gov, the plan, or a counselor when any of these is true.

• Someone contacted you first, by phone, email, text, or at the door, and wants your Medicare number, a payment, or a new plan today. Medicare's Marketplace page says not to share your Medicare number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you that way, unless you contacted them first and gave permission. Medicare's fraud page says Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home, and not to join a plan over the phone unless you called and asked for help. Hang up. Call 1-800-MEDICARE.
• Medicare's marketing-rules page says plans and their agents are not allowed to call or text you unless you are already a member of the plan or you gave them permission, and they are not allowed to come to your home uninvited to sell you something. A contact that breaks those rules is a reason to stop, not a reason to paste the card into a chat.
• You need to know if a symptom is an emergency. Call emergency services. This page does not interpret symptoms.
• The question is Medigap, a Special Enrollment Period, Extra Help, or a late-enrollment penalty. Read Medicare's joining-a-plan page or call 1-800-MEDICARE. Do not let a chat invent the window.
• The only document you have is a Marketplace plan or an employer's Summary of Benefits. Use Compare health plans with AI.
• A bill already arrived. That is Understand a medical bill with AI. Black out names, member IDs, and account numbers. That page is not medical, legal, or financial advice.

What should you keep private?

Paste plan names and the cost figures you copied. Do not paste a Medicare number, a Social Security number, a member ID, a bank account, or a photo of the card. A drug name and dose is enough for a checklist. A full medical history is not. Use a personal account you control. A workplace chat can be visible to your employer. A parent's notice is not a work file. The rest of the rule is Keep your data private with AI. A caller who wants a gift card, crypto, a wire, or a payment app is Spot AI scams and deepfakes.

What should you check before you use it?

Answer each line before anyone enrolls.

Director check: look before you use it

• Did the premium, deductible, and drug estimate come from Medicare.gov/plan-compare, or from the notice, on a date you wrote down? If the chat supplied a figure, it is not a cost yet.
• Can you point to the ANOC line for every change in the summary? If the line is not in the paste, delete the sentence.
• Did you multiply the premium yourself? Twelve times the premium is arithmetic. A blended "yearly cost" you did not ask for is not.
• Did the chat name a doctor, a pharmacy, or a drug as covered? Ignore that sentence. Ask the office, the pharmacy, the plan, 1-800-MEDICARE, or SHIP.
• Are you on the Medicare calendar? October 15 to December 7, with January 1 coverage, is the fall window on Medicare.gov. It is not the Marketplace, and it is not a job's deadline.
• Is the Medicare number still out of the chat? If it slipped in, stop using that thread.
• If this is a parent's plan, did they decide? You can hold the paper. You do not pick the plan for them.

What is one extra tip?

When the comparison is a table you want to recalculate, use Ask for a tool, not an answer and check twelve times the premium on paper. When every dollar has to be a number you typed, stay with Give it the numbers. A job or Marketplace packet is Compare health plans with AI. A bill in the mailbox is Understand a medical bill with AI.

One extra tip

More of this topic is on Health plans and Money and bills. More home guides are on Life.

Which sources back this page?

These are the public pages this guide uses. Open the one that matches the question. A sentence here is not a substitute, and it is not insurance advice.

• Medicare Open Enrollment. Medicare.gov says Open Enrollment is October 15 to December 7, and changes are effective January 1 if the plan gets your request by December 7.
• Joining a health or drug plan. Compare plans at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, add your drugs for a cost estimate, ask doctors and pharmacies if they are in network, and enroll on Medicare.gov, with the plan, or at 1-800-MEDICARE.
• Medicare.gov/plan-compare. The official plan comparison. Copy the numbers from the screen you have open.
• Helpful tools. Enter your drugs for a monthly and yearly cost estimate. SHIP counseling is free, and SHIPs are not connected to any insurance company or health plan. 1-800-MEDICARE is 1-800-633-4227. TTY is 1-877-486-2048.
• Plan Annual Notice of Change. Your plan sends it each fall. It includes changes in coverage, costs, and more effective in January. You should get it in September.
• Medicare and the Marketplace. Medicare's Open Enrollment is not part of the Marketplace. Do not share your Medicare number with someone who contacts you first.
• Reporting Medicare fraud and abuse. Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit your home. Do not give out your Medicare number or Social Security number except to people who should have it, including SHIP.
• Plan marketing rules. Plans are not allowed to call or text you unless you are already a member or you gave permission, and they are not allowed to come to your home uninvited to sell you something.
• shiphelp.org. Local SHIP counseling during Open Enrollment, at no cost. Call 877-839-2675.