Medicare open enrollment starts Oct. 15. Idahoans should check their plans, officials say.

As health insurance carriers change private plans for Medicare, Idaho officials are encouraging people to review their policies during open enrollment next month.

Open enrollment for Medicare — when people can change their insurance coverage — starts Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7. But insurers have been changing, and even pulling out of, Medicare Advantage, which are private plans for the federal health insurance program for older Americans and people with disabilities.