How to Replace a Medicare Advantage Plan That's Ending Next Year

People whose plans are closing get extra weeks to choose, but doing nothing can leave you without drug coverage.

If a letter came in early October saying your Medicare Advantage plan won't be offered next year, you aren't losing Medicare. You also have more time than most people to choose a new plan, through Feb. 28. But waiting can cost you the plan you want, and doing nothing at all can cost you your drug coverage.

A lot of people are in the same spot. Insurers that run Advantage plans can leave any market they choose. NPR reported in a story LAist published that at least 2 million people are in plans closing for next year, based on a tally of insurer announcements by the podcast An Arm and a Leg. Other early estimates run from 3.2 million to 5 million. The health research group KFF counts 193 counties, mostly rural, where no Advantage plan will be sold at all next year. Last year it was about 120.

Here's what happens if you're late. Medicare's own guidance says that if you haven't picked a new Advantage plan by the time yours ends, you'll land in Original Medicare. LAist reported that your insurer may instead move you into another of its Advantage plans. And if you end up in traditional Medicare, it comes with no drug plan and no Medigap supplement. That's the gap that hurts, because many Advantage plans bundle in drug coverage, so your prescriptions were part of the plan that's going away.

Now the clock. Open enrollment for everyone runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. If your plan isn't coming back, Medicare.gov says you also get a special window from Dec. 8 through the last day of February. LAist reported that you need to sign up by Dec. 31 if you want the new coverage to start Jan. 1.

1. Make sure it's really ending. Find the letter. No letter? Your Medicare.gov account shows whether your plan is coming back next year, and 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048) takes questions about enrollment changes.
2. Choose your route. You can join another Advantage plan, or go back to Original Medicare and add a separate drug plan. LAist reported that if you leave because your plan is ending, you can buy a Medigap supplement without the usual restrictions. That matters if a pre-existing condition has kept you out of Medigap before.
3. Don't wait for February. Insurers can now cap enrollment in some of the plans they still sell, so the one you want could fill up, LAist reported. Plans are supposed to take people in the order they sign up, and they aren't allowed to pick customers by health or age. So many people are shopping at once that help could be slower to come by, too.
4. Call the free counselors. In L.A. County, California's HICAP program is run by the nonprofit Center for Health Care Rights at 800-434-0222. Counseling is offered in more than 230 languages, by phone, Zoom or in person, at volunteer sites from Burbank to Palmdale. The county's Aging & Disabilities Department says it's free and confidential and usually by appointment. Plan on about 45 minutes for a first phone session. Outside the county, look up your state's program at shiphelp.org.
5. Check the plan before you sign. Medicare's Plan Finder lists of covered doctors and drugs can be wrong, so confirm with your doctor's office or a counselor. If you use a broker, ask whether they sell plans from every carrier and whether they'll talk through Original Medicare with Medigap too. Don't give your phone number to websites you've never heard of, since some sell it to spammers and scammers.

The hard stop is Feb. 28. But if you want your prescriptions covered on New Year's Day, the date that counts is Dec. 31.

Source: LAist, retrieved October 26, 2026. Other sources: medicare.gov, healthcarerights.org, Los Angeles County.