Medicare Open Enrollment (October 15th – December 7th) facilitates insurance industry participation in Medicare through Medicare Advantage (MA) plans which manage comprehensive health care benefits for beneficiaries. During Open Enrollment, beneficiaries can enroll in, change, or opt out of a MA plan. Traditional Medicare (TM) beneficiaries and MA beneficiaries who re-enroll in TM can enroll in a stand-alone Part D prescription plan.
Since 1985, Medicare has encouraged health insurance industry participation in the program with the goal of reducing program costs, yet the industry’s participation has not only failed to deliver costs savings but has consistently increased Medicare spending. MA plans were paid 20% more per beneficiary than TM in 2025, increasing costs by $84 billion this year, compared to $18 billion in 2015 (source: Kaiser Family Foundation). As MA enrollment has expanded to more than half of beneficiaries in 2025, the participating health insurance giants have profited enormously from Medicare payments. MA plans are paid more to “manage” Medicare benefits however multiple studies have shown they function more as gatekeepers, providing more limited benefits than the Traditional Medicare fee-for-service program.