Changing Your Home Address
All health insurance is sold based on your residential address. You can have only one residential address listed with Social Security at a time and must live there at least six months out of each year. Insurance rates can vary by location because of local demographics, cost of living, and local medical practices. While health insurance changes aren't allowed at just any time of the year, moving is one of the life events that triggers a Special Election Period (SEP) to change plans.
Medicare plans also have regional service areas. Most moves outside of your current ZIP Code require a plan change or re-enrollment in the same plan in the new service area. If you have a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP), Medicare tracks your payments toward prescription deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses and the payments the plan makes, so your balances apply to your new plan. Medicare Advantage contributions to deductibles and out-of-pocket limits may not follow you mid-year to the new plan unless it's the same type of plan with the same insurance carrier. Deductibles and coinsurance paid under Original Medicare are tracked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and any amounts paid aren't affected by changing a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy mid-year.
If you plan to move:
Notify Social Security of your change of address.
Update your address on the Via Benefits website. Read Create Your Profile on the Website to learn how to change your address.
Call us at 1-866-322-2824 to discuss if plan changes are needed. A Via Benefits licensed benefit advisor* updates your record and, if you have a reimbursement account, checks to see what notifications are requested for address changes.
Call us to determine if you moved out of the service area. A benefit advisor determines if you moved out of your service area and helps you notify your current insurance carrier of your address change or assists you in completing a new enrollment.
Required evidence of the move often includes the following:
Voter registration card, driver’s license, tax records, utility bills
Application or signed statement indicating you have permanently moved in to or out of the previous service area
*Our licensed benefit advisors specialize in health insurance for retirees. They go through annual training and certification to ensure they can help you make an informed and confident decision.