If your Delaware Medigap premium just went up, you can switch plans without a health screening during a window that opens 30 days before your birthday.
Delaware's new birthday rule, effective January 1, 2026, gives existing Medicare Supplement policyholders an annual chance to move to another plan with no medical underwriting. The catch most people miss: the window starts before your birthday, not on it, so the time to act is sooner than you think.
In This Guide
- The Delaware Birthday Rule in Brief
- How the Window Works
- What You Can and Cannot Switch To
- Leaving Medicare Advantage Is Different
- The Rule at a Glance
- Frequently Asked Questions
How the Window Works
Federally, your one guaranteed chance to buy any Medigap plan without a health screening is the six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts when you turn 65 and enroll in Part B. After that window closes, insurers in most states can review your health history and charge you more, or turn you down, if you try to switch plans. That is why a rate increase can feel like a trap: the better-priced plan down the street may run a health screening you cannot pass.
Delaware's birthday rule reopens the door once a year. Under Senate Bill 71, effective January 1, 2026, an existing Medigap policyholder gets an annual Special Enrollment Period built around their birthday. The distinctive part is the timing: the window begins 30 days before your birthday and lasts at least 30 days after it. So if your birthday is October 1, your earliest day to act is around September 1, not the birthday itself.
You should not have to track this alone. Delaware law requires insurers to notify eligible policyholders of these rights 30 to 60 days before their birthday. If you hold a Medigap policy and a notice arrives in the mail ahead of your birthday, that is your cue that the window is open.
What You Can and Cannot Switch To
The protection is real but bounded. During the birthday-rule window you may move to any Medigap plan with the same or lesser benefits than the plan you have now, and you may buy it from your current carrier or a different carrier. Within those bounds, the carrier cannot use medical underwriting, your health status, or your claims history to deny coverage or raise your price.
What the rule does not let you do is upgrade. You cannot use the birthday window to jump to a plan with richer benefits than your current one without underwriting. The point of the rule is to let you escape a rate increase by moving sideways or down to comparable coverage, not to trade up your benefits for free.
A practical way to read "same or lesser benefits": if you hold Plan G today, you can move to another carrier's Plan G, or to a leaner plan, but not to a plan that covers more than Plan G does. If you are unsure which standardized plans count as same or lesser than yours, the federal letters A through N are ranked by benefit level, and a Delaware Medicare Assistance Bureau (DMAB) counselor can confirm where your plan sits before you apply.
Leaving Medicare Advantage Is Different
Senate Bill 71 also touches people coming the other way, from a Medicare Advantage plan into a Medicare Supplement policy, but the protection there is weaker and worth understanding before you count on it.
For someone switching from a Medicare Advantage plan to Medigap, SB 71 bars the insurer from outright denying your application. But it stops short of full guaranteed issue: the insurer is still allowed to individually rate your policy (price it based on your situation) and to apply a pre-existing condition limitation. So a Medicare Advantage to Medigap move under SB 71 is not the same clean, no-underwriting switch the birthday rule gives an existing Medigap holder. You will get a policy, but possibly at a higher price and with a waiting period on conditions you already have.
The birthday rule, by contrast, is for people who already hold a Medigap policy. If that is you, the full no-underwriting protection applies during your annual window.
The Rule at a Glance
| Detail | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | People who already hold a Delaware Medigap policy |
| Window | Begins 30 days before your birthday, lasts at least 30 days after |
| What you can switch to | Any Medigap plan with the same or lesser benefits |
| Which carriers | Your current carrier or a different carrier |
| Underwriting | None; health status and claims history cannot be used to deny or price |
| Carrier notice | Insurers must notify you 30 to 60 days before your birthday |
| Effective date | January 1, 2026 (Senate Bill 71; Del. Code Title 18, Ch. 34) |
Frequently Asked Questions
It opens 30 days before your birthday and lasts at least 30 days after it. This is the part most people get wrong: the window starts before the birthday, not on it. If your birthday is in July, plan to act in late June. Delaware insurers are also required to notify you of these rights 30 to 60 days before your birthday, so watch your mail.
Yes. During the birthday-rule window you can move to a plan from your current carrier or a different carrier, and the new carrier cannot use medical underwriting, your health status, or your claims history to deny you or raise your price. That is what makes the rule useful for escaping a rate increase: you can shop competing carriers without a health screening.
No. The birthday rule lets you switch to a Medigap plan with the same or lesser benefits than your current plan, not a richer one. The rule is designed to help you move to comparable or leaner coverage without underwriting, typically to find a lower premium, rather than to upgrade your benefits for free.
Not in the same way. For a move from Medicare Advantage to Medigap, SB 71 bars the insurer from denying your application, but it still allows the insurer to individually rate the policy and apply a pre-existing condition limitation. So that transition is not full guaranteed issue the way the birthday-rule switch is. The clean, no-underwriting birthday rule is for people who already hold a Medigap policy.
Learn More
- Medicare Plans and Coverage in Delaware
- How Medigap Works
- Medicare: The National Guide
- Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage
If your Delaware Medigap premium has climbed and you want help timing your birthday-rule window or comparing same-or-lesser plans, find personalized Medicare guidance at brevy.com.
The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.