SHIBA provides FREE and UNBIASED Medicare advice to anyone receiving Medicare and/or Medicare + Medicaid. 

We want to help you find the very best program for you. 

Additional programs are available to help pay for costs.  Talk to us!

SHIBA – Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors

Serving Medicare Clients of Snohomish and Skagit Counties as well as Camano Island

For information call 425.290.1276 

Medicare Open Enrollment For 2025

• Open Enrollment ended December 7th.  However, if you are currently in a Medicare Advantage Plan, and you have not received a letter saying your plan will be discontinued, you will have an opportunity to switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, 2025.

• Special Enrollment Period (SEP) – Because your plan is ending, you may have an SEP from December 8, 2024, through February 28, 2025, to change your Medicare health and drug coverage.

1. Changes you make from December 8 through December 31 will take effect January 1.

1. Changes you make during January take effect February 1. If your plan ended as of December 31, you will be automatically enrolled in Original Medicare as of January 1 so that you still have medical coverage until you have made a formal decision. 

1. Changes you make in February take effect March 1. Since your plan ended as of December 31, you will be automatically enrolled in Original Medicare as of January 1 so that you still have medical coverage until you have made a formal decision. 

1. It is important to know that if you are automatically enrolled in Original Medicare, you may face gaps in prescription drug coverage because you will not automatically receive a new Part D plan.

Welcome to Medicare 

UPCOMING ONLINE PRESENTATIONS

This presentation is by live interactive Zoom. Registration is required. *Please register for the Welcome to Medicare presentation at least two hours before the presentation is scheduled to start. If you register later than two hours before the presentation, there may not be time for staff to send Medicare PDF documents to you that will be discussed by the presenter. You won’t get them until the next day.

Date: Wednesdays (on-going) 
Time: 6:00 – 7:30pm 
Click Link HERE for available dates

Date: Thursdays (on-going) 
Time: 1:30 – 3:30pm
Click Link HERE for available dates

The Welcome to Medicare presentation will cover the following: 

Questions? Please send an email to Melanie Foust 

Virtual Open Enrollment With Tim Smolen 

Tim Smolen with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner is offering online open enrollment events every Monday – Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Dates are from October 28 until December 7 (except Nov. 26-29 in honor of the Thanksgiving Holiday). Read this article for more details. 

This is the Zoom link for the events. It is the same everyday and for each session. 

The Insurance Commissioner’s Office has lots of resources available to you. Follow this link to check them out. 

This is a great resource for all of us to use to understand what preventative health benefits Medicare will pay for and how often.

Medicare Benefits

Your guide to Medicare preventive services.

SHIBA receives funding from the Snohomish County Department of Human Services