What Your Patients Need to Know for Medicare Open Enrollment

The annual Medicare open enrollment period runs October 15 to December 7 this year, giving adults ages 65 and older the opportunity to review and possibly change their healthcare coverage.

By
November 5, 2026
2 min

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Objective:

Inform clinicians and patients about Medicare Open Enrollment dates and Roswell Park’s insurance participation and support resources.

Approach:

Enrollment period: Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7. Adults 65 and older can review or change coverage, with changes potentially affecting access to care in 2027.
Coverage status: Roswell Park continues to participate in Original Medicare and Medicaid and remains in-network with several regional individual Medicare Advantage plans and most group retiree plans. Its participation in non-Medicare commercial and employer plans has not chang…
Patient support: Patients can visit Roswellpark.org/medicare or call 716-845-8760 for Medicare Open Enrollment assistance. For patient-specific or referral questions, clinicians can call the Physician Referral Office at 716-845-7763.

Key Findings:

Some individual Medicare Advantage plans are changing benefits, provider networks, and coverage options for the coming year.
If a patient loses in-network access to Roswell Park, out-of-network authorization may be available.
Continuity-of-care rules allow certain patients in active treatment to continue care with an out-of-network provider for a limited period into the new year.

Interpretation:

The article advises patients to review coverage during Open Enrollment and describes Roswell Park resources for coverage questions, care coordination, authorization requests, and continuity of treatment.

Limitations:

The article does not identify which specific Medicare Advantage plans are changing or list the plans with which Roswell Park remains in-network.
It does not specify the duration or eligibility criteria for continuity-of-care protections or out-of-network authorizations.