Why You Should Review Your Medicare Elections Every Year

If you’re enrolled in Medicare—or getting ready to be—the one annual action that many overlook is reviewing your plan during the Open Enrollment/Annual Election Period. Oversight here can cost you in terms of money, coverage, or access to the doctors you trust.

At Bentham Wealth, we focus on your full retirement picture—investments, taxes, pensions, income, and Social Security. For Medicare guidance, we’ve partnered with Corey Malstrom at NY Medicare Specialists, to ensure our clients get expert help with their healthcare coverage decisions. Corey is paid by the insurance companies, meaning you get expert Medicare guidance at no additional cost.

Your Medicare plan isn’t “set it and forget it.” Health happens, plan details change—and every year it pays to take a fresh look. Here’s what to review, why it matters, and how we help.

The Real-World Value of Reviewing Your Plan

Medicare plans change formularies, premiums, doctor networks, and drug pricing every year. One plan may be the best value this year and a costly choice next year — even if nothing in your health changes.

But often, health needs do change. That’s where reviewing your coverage pays off.

An Example From my Own Family

Recently, my mom was prescribed a new medication. Under her existing Independent Health plan, it wasn’t covered affordably — meaning thousands of dollars in potential out-of-pocket costs for the year.

By reviewing options and switching to a Univera plan that covered the prescription, my parents:

✅ Kept their doctors
✅ Maintained similar overall coverage
✅ Saved thousands of dollars in medication costs

This wasn’t about chasing the lowest premium — it was about aligning coverage with real needs. One review. One change. Thousands saved.

And stories like this aren’t rare.

What to review each year

Here’s a checklist of things to cover with your Medicare review:

How the Medicare Review Works (with Corey)

1. Gather your current plan information, medications list, provider list, recent health changes.
2. Compare your current plan to alternatives using up-to-date tools.
3. Discuss your priorities for the coming year — what matters most: cost, providers, benefits?
4. Recommend whether you should stay with your current plan or switch.
5. If a change makes sense, assist you in making the move so it takes effect January 1.
6. Document the review and schedule the next check-in, making annual review a habit.

When should you schedule?

The best time to meet is October or November of each year as that is during the Medicare enrollment window, when plans release their upcoming year changes and you can make adjustments in real time. This ensures you’re reviewing accurate, current plan details — not estimates or outdated information.

Give yourself enough time to compare options thoughtfully, ask questions, and make confident choices without scrambling at the last minute. Contact Corey to walk you through your options and help you decide what plan makes sense for you.

📆 Schedule an appointment with Corey here: https://calendly.com/legendwny-medicare

Wrap-Up

Just like taxes and investments, Medicare should be revisited every year. Plans change, your needs evolve, and the right annual review can save money, stress, and protect your access to care.