Retirement Dates

Guide

Your plan is leaving: what to do when a Medicare Advantage plan ends

Figures and rules on this page last checked against their sources: October 25, 2026.

Plans leave. At the end of 2025, 2.6 million1 people had their Medicare Advantage drug plan end, about 13%2 of people in individual Medicare Advantage drug plans, according to KFF.

For 2027, Humana told CBS News that its plan exits affect about 600,0003 members, and that most of them will be offered another plan. UnitedHealthcare said it is closing a plan for about 390,0004 members, who will have another UnitedHealthcare plan available. KFF counts UnitedHealth Group leaving 228 counties and Humana 625: in the counties it is leaving, each company offers no Medicare Advantage drug plan for 2027.

If one of those letters is yours, here is what it means and what to do, in date order.

First, check which letter you got. The extra dates and the Medigap right on this page come with a Plan Non-Renewal Notice, the letter you get when your plan is leaving Medicare.6 If your letter says instead that you'll be moved into another plan from the same company, you stay enrolled, and the special window that runs to the end of February doesn't apply.7 You can still change plans until December 7,8 and once more from January 1 to March 31 if you're in a Medicare Advantage plan then.9 Being moved to another plan isn't, by itself, one of the situations that give a federal right to buy a Medigap policy.10 Before you switch to Original Medicare in that case, ask your State Health Insurance Assistance Program whether you have that right for another reason or under your state's rules.11

If your plan is leaving and you do nothing

If you don't choose another Medicare Advantage plan before yours ends, you are moved to Original Medicare. You won't be left without Medicare.6

But Original Medicare doesn't include drug coverage. If you don't join a drug plan and go 63 days or more without creditable drug coverage, a Part D late penalty can apply for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage.12 And under Original Medicare alone, after the Part B deductible you generally pay 20% of the cost of covered services.13 Many people add a Medigap policy to cover that.

Choice one: another Medicare Advantage plan

You can choose a new plan during Open Enrollment, October 15 to December 7, for coverage from January 1.8 Because your plan is ending, you also have a special right to choose another plan until the last day of February:6

  • Choose by December 31: coverage starts January 1.
  • Choose in January: coverage starts February 1.
  • Choose in February: coverage starts March 1.

Choosing by December 31 is the only way to go straight from the old plan to the new one. Choose later and you are in Original Medicare from January 1 until the new plan starts.

Choice two: Original Medicare, a drug plan, and perhaps Medigap

If your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving Medicare, you have a right to buy a Medigap policy without being turned down. You can apply as early as 60 days before your plan coverage ends, and no later than 63 days after it ends.10

Which Medigap plans the right covers depends on when you first qualified for Medicare. If you turned 65 before January 1, 2020, or had Medicare before then because of a disability or End-Stage Renal Disease, it covers Plans A, B, C, F, K and L. If you're new to Medicare since then, it covers Plans A, B, D, G, K and L: D and G take the place of C and F.14 These are your federal rights, and your state may give you more; your State Health Insurance Assistance Program can tell you.15 The right applies only if you switch to Original Medicare rather than join another Medicare Advantage plan, and the Medigap policy can't start until your plan coverage ends.10

Keep the letter from your plan. Medicare.gov says you may need copies of letters or notices to show you have the right when you apply.10

Join a stand-alone drug plan as well, timed so it starts when your old plan ends.

Your dates, in order

  1. When the letter arrives: read it and write down the date your plan ends.
  2. Up to 60 days before that date: the earliest you can apply for Medigap with a guaranteed right.
  3. By December 7: the end of Open Enrollment. Choosing by then keeps everything simple.
  4. By December 31: the last day to choose a new Medicare Advantage plan that starts January 1.
  5. By the last day of February: the end of your special right to choose another plan.
  6. 63 days after your plan ends: the last day to apply for Medigap with the guaranteed right.

Questions to ask before you choose

  • Are my doctors and hospitals in the new plan's network?
  • Are my drugs on its list, and on which tier?
  • What is the yearly out-of-pocket maximum for medical care?
  • If I go to Original Medicare, which Medigap plan would I buy, and what does it cost where I live?

Most people still have choices, but not everyone

Of the people whose plan ended for 2026, 98.9%16 still had at least one Medicare Advantage drug plan available, with an average of 2517 to choose from, KFF found.

For 2027, KFF counts 193 counties, home to 638,000 people with Medicare18 with no Medicare Advantage drug plan open to general enrollment. If you live in one, Original Medicare with a drug plan, plus Medigap if you want it, is the route, and the guaranteed Medigap right above is the way in.

Help

Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227); TTY 1-877-486-204819, or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program for free one-on-one counseling.11 Be wary of calls you didn't ask for that offer to sort it out for you. Medicare will never call you to sell you anything.20

The rest of the fall review is on the Open Enrollment checklist.