Your Medicare ANOC Deadline Is About Receipt, Not Mailing — and It Is Not September 30 for Everyone
Federal rules require the Annual Notice of Change to be sent for enrollee receipt by September 30 each year, but enrollees with an Oct. 1, Nov. 1 or Dec. 1 effective date follow another deadline.
The deadline is written as receipt, not as mailing
The ANOC deadline is usually summarized as "plans must mail it by September 30." The regulation does not say mail. 42 CFR § 422.2267(e)(3) says the notice "Must send for enrollee receipt no later than September 30 of each year."[3]
The difference is who bears the transit time. A mailing deadline is satisfied the moment the envelope leaves; a receipt deadline is not met until it arrives. Under the rule as written, the plan has to work backwards from September 30, not send on it.[3]
This also sets the practical sequence for the enrollee. The ANOC is meant to be in hand before Open Enrollment opens on October 15, which is what makes it possible to compare the coming year's terms against alternatives during the window rather than after it.[1][3]
September 30 is not everyone's deadline
The same paragraph carves out a separate group. Enrollees with an October 1, November 1, or December 1 effective date must receive the notice "within 10 calendar days from receipt of CMS confirmation of enrollment or by last day of month prior to effective date, whichever is later."[3]
So the answer to "when should my ANOC arrive?" depends on your effective date. For most enrollees it is the September 30 receipt deadline; for those three effective dates it is a rolling deadline tied to when CMS confirmed the enrollment. Stating one date for everybody is wrong for that group.[3]
Note also the "whichever is later" in the carve-out. It selects the later of the two dates, not the earlier one — a qualifier that flips the result whenever the 10-day count and the month-end date do not line up.[3]
December 7 is the date the plan must have it
Open Enrollment itself runs October 15 – December 7, and changes take effect January 1 of next year. But the December 7 wording is specific: Medicare.gov says "the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7."[1]
That is a received-by date, not a postmarked-by date — the same receipt-versus-sending distinction that governs the ANOC, applied at the other end of the season.[1][3]
One more separation worth keeping: the ANOC and the EOC are two documents. CMS names them side by side, advising enrollees to review both the Evidence of Coverage and the Annual Notice of Change their plans send.[2]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
Under 42 CFR § 422.2267(e)(3), the Annual Notice of Change must be sent for enrollee receipt no later than September 30 of each year.[3] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · 42 CFR § 422.2267(e)(3) as published by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute
Enrollees with an October 1, November 1, or December 1 effective date must receive the notice within 10 calendar days from receipt of CMS confirmation of enrollment, or by the last day of the month prior to the effective date, whichever is later.[3] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · 42 CFR § 422.2267(e)(3), the sentence following the September 30 deadline
Medicare.gov states that the plan must get the enrollment request by December 7.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · Medicare.gov Open Enrollment page
CMS advises that people in a Medicare health or prescription drug plan should always review the materials their plans send them, naming both the Evidence of Coverage (EOC) and the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC).[2] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · CMS Medicare Open Enrollment Partner Resources page
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| 09/12/2026, 19:15 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
Frequently asked
When should I receive my Medicare Annual Notice of Change?
Under 42 CFR § 422.2267(e)(3) the ANOC must be sent for enrollee receipt no later than September 30 of each year. The rule is written as a receipt deadline rather than a mailing deadline, so it should be in hand before Open Enrollment opens on October 15.[1][3]
Is September 30 the ANOC deadline for every enrollee?
No. Enrollees with an October 1, November 1, or December 1 effective date must receive the notice within 10 calendar days from receipt of CMS confirmation of enrollment, or by the last day of the month prior to the effective date, whichever is later.[3]
Does my enrollment request just need to be postmarked by December 7?
Medicare.gov states that the plan must get your enrollment request by December 7, which is a received-by date rather than a sent-by date. Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7 and changes take effect January 1 of the next year.[1]
Are the ANOC and the Evidence of Coverage the same document?
No. CMS names them separately, advising people in a Medicare health or prescription drug plan to review the materials their plans send them, including both the Evidence of Coverage (EOC) and the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC).[2]
Official links
Sources
- [1] Open Enrollment primary
- [2] Medicare Open Enrollment Partner Resources primary
- [3] 42 CFR § 422.2267 — Required materials and content primary