This page does reflect the major HP Inc and HPE changes for the 2026 Enrollment Cycle.
Meanwhile, enrollment tips and traps are being discussed on the HPAlumni Benefits Forum: Benefits Forum

Medicare Basics Review.  (Whether or not receiving benefits subsidized by HP or HPE.)

Medicare works differently! You have lots of work to do.

Advice from HPAA members.

HPAA members advise that you get started three months before your Medicare start date (which is the start of your birth month, or the previous month if born on the 1st.)

1. Set up your online "My Social Security" account -- or gain access to the forgotten account you set up in the past. You will be asked questions based on your Equifax credit file. If this process fails -- for example if you don't currently have both a mortgage and a car loan -- Social Security will send a temporary password to either the postal address or email address they have on file for you. If you have a credit freeze or fraud alert at Equifax, you will have to temporarily lift it. Create a Social Security Account: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/create.html

2. Download the very clear, official "Medicare & You" book: Don't wait for the printed copy in the mail, which may show up two months after you need it. Even if you have a paper copy, download the document file and use Adobe Reader's search feature to find specific words or phrases (Ctrl-F, F3, or Command-F.)https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf  (2026 edition available on Sep 10, 2025.)

3. Sign up for Medicare A and/or B using your online Social Security account. 

4. Then you will be able to add your specific Medicare insurance plan(s) -- Medigap and/or Part D, or Advantage -- via your insurance provider.

Getting started with Medicare.

Here's the official Medicare step-by-step procedure: "Getting started with Medicare" https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare

Get Medicare information from the primary source.

Much Medicare information on websites or in the media is oversimplified ...or influenced by the fact that Advantage plans are much more profitable than Medigap plans, which is reflected in the commissions paid
to sales agencies.


Many websites are actually operated by marketing companies collecting leads for high-pressure Advantage Plan sales outfits. (Including the official-looking "medicare -dot- com" and -dot- org sites.)

For example, Consumer Reports and AARP promoting a "free, unbiased Medicare advisory service" called Chapter, which turns out to be an insurance sales agency that pays nonprofits for sales leads.

As with every sales agency -- including HPInc's choice, AlightRHS -- the fine print says "We do not offer every plan available in your area." Searching brings up mixed reviews.




The official Medicare site is http://www.medicare.gov
It is thorough and very well done.

1. First, check the very clear, official "Medicare & You" book.

Best source of reliable Medicare info is the very clear official book -- "Medicare & You" -- in the mail or online.

Even if you have a paper copy, download the document file and use Adobe Reader's search feature to find specific words or phrases (Ctrl-F, F3, or Command-F.)
Download the book from the official Medicare.gov site: https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf