Your Medicare Advantage plan is ending. Here is what to check next.

Where would you like to start?

Start with the line that matches your letter, or read it front to back.

Is my plan ending or only changing?

These are two different situations and they come with different letters.

When does my current coverage stop, and how long do I have to choose?

If your plan is ending or leaving your county, your current coverage stops on December 31 of the current plan year.

You can pick new coverage between December 8 and the last day of February of the following year. That window is your Special Enrollment Period — it is specific to your situation and it runs independently of the regular Annual Enrollment Period, which closes December 7.

1. Before December 7 (Annual Enrollment Period). You can enroll in any Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare and a stand-alone Part D drug plan. This is the period when most options are available and advertising is loudest.
2. December 8 through December 31. You can still use your Special Enrollment Period to pick new coverage that starts January 1.
3. January 1 through the last day of February. Your Special Enrollment Period continues if you have not yet made a choice. New coverage starts the first of the following month. Do not wait until February — you want your new coverage confirmed before your first doctor visit of the year.

Can I choose another Medicare Advantage plan?

In most cases, yes. Your Special Enrollment Period lets you enroll in any Medicare Advantage plan available in your county, not just one offered by the same company.

Before choosing, check three things for each plan you are considering:

• Your doctors. Is each doctor you see in the plan's network? Call the office and ask — do not rely on an online directory alone, because they are updated on different schedules than the actual network.
• Your prescriptions. Is every drug you take on the plan's formulary at a tier that is manageable? Bring your full medication list. The tier a drug sits on can vary significantly between plans.
• Your county. Plans are approved county by county. A plan a friend has in the next town may not be available where you live. Your ZIP code is the starting point for any real comparison.

If you stay in Medicare Advantage, also consider whether the new plan has year-to-year stability — whether it has been in your county for multiple years is a reasonable indicator, though not a guarantee.

Tell me your ZIP code and I will tell you what is actually approved where you live this plan year.

Can I return to Original Medicare?

Yes. A plan non-renewal or withdrawal from your county gives you the right to leave Medicare Advantage and return to Original Medicare. That is part of what the Special Enrollment Period covers.

Original Medicare means:

• Part A (hospital) and Part B (medical) — administered directly by the federal government
• No network — any doctor who accepts Medicare, anywhere in the country
• No prior authorization for most services
• No built-in drug coverage — you would need a stand-alone Part D plan
• No cap on out-of-pocket costs — many people pair it with a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy for that reason

Whether returning to Original Medicare makes sense depends on your health situation, your finances, and what Medigap options are available to you. It is not automatically better — it is a different set of trade-offs.

Do I have guaranteed Medigap rights when my plan ends?

This is the part of the non-renewal situation that catches people off guard — and it may be the most valuable thing on this page.

Federal law gives you a guaranteed-issue right to certain Medigap plans when your Medicare Advantage plan ends through no fault of your own. Guaranteed issue means the insurance company cannot refuse you coverage or charge you more because of your health history.

The federal rule says you may have the right to Medigap Plan A, B, C, D, F, G, K, or L from any company that sells Medigap in your state if you switch to Original Medicare. If you were new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, Plans C and F are not available to you. Medicare says you have the right to Plans D and G instead.

The application window: You can apply starting 60 days before your Medicare Advantage coverage ends and no more than 63 days after it ends. Medicare.gov explains the federal window here.

The post-termination window is short, especially if you are also shopping for a new Medicare Advantage plan. These are two separate decisions. The Medigap deadline keeps moving whether or not you have made the other choice.

1. Confirm your plan is non-renewing, not just changing. The guaranteed-issue right applies to non-renewals and withdrawals, not to plans that continue with modified benefits.
2. Mark the date your coverage ends. You can apply 60 days before that date and no more than 63 days after it.
3. Compare Medigap options before the window closes. Medigap premiums are not regulated in most states, so the same plan can cost very different amounts from different companies. The benefits within each available letter (A, B, C, D, F, G, K, or L) are standardized.
4. Apply before you also need to enroll in Part D. Medigap does not include drug coverage. If you are returning to Original Medicare, you need both.

Medigap rights are time-sensitive in a way that most Medicare decisions are not. This one has a clock.

What happens to my doctors and prescriptions during the transition?

When your Medicare Advantage plan ends, your network contracts end with it. Your doctors do not automatically move to a new plan — each plan has its own network and its own negotiations.

For doctors:

• Do not assume continuity. Call each office and ask whether they accept the new plan you are considering.
• If you are returning to Original Medicare, any doctor who accepts Medicare will see you — the network concern goes away, but cost sharing changes.
• If you are in active treatment or recently had a procedure, ask about transition-of-care rules. Some plans offer a limited period to continue seeing out-of-network providers while your care transitions.

For prescriptions:

• Each Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage has its own formulary. A drug covered at Tier 2 on your old plan may be Tier 4 or not covered at all on a new plan.
• If you are returning to Original Medicare, you need a stand-alone Part D plan. There is a Special Enrollment Period for this tied to the same non-renewal event.
• Specialty drugs and brand-name drugs are the highest risk. Confirm those specifically for any plan you are considering.

What if someone called me about this and I did not call them first?

Plan non-renewals create a burst of outbound calls from agents, lead-buyers, and call centers. Some of that contact is not allowed.

An agent or plan may not:

• Call you about a Medicare Advantage plan if you did not first request information from them
• Send you a text, social media message, or email you did not ask for
• Come to your home uninvited
• Pressure you to decide before you are ready
• Ask for your Medicare number in order to "check your options"

What you can do: Hang up. You are allowed to. You can also ask for the caller's name, their agency, and their license number. A licensed agent in good standing will give you all three.

What should I ask any agent before making a decision?

Ask these of anyone you speak with. Including me.

1. How many plans do you represent in my county?
2. Are my current doctors in this plan's network?
3. Are my medications on this plan's formulary at a reasonable tier?
4. Has this plan been available in my county for more than one year?
5. What is the maximum out-of-pocket limit for this plan?
6. If I return to Original Medicare instead, what Medigap options are available to me and at what cost?
7. What is the deadline for my specific situation?

If an agent cannot answer question one, that tells you something about how many options you are actually being shown.

Who wrote this?

Quoted on Medicare in Newsweek, NTD, and InsuranceNewsNet — as commentary, not endorsement.

Makaistorya ko og Binisaya.

A first conversation is mostly questions. Your letter, your doctors, your prescriptions, your county. Often the answer is that one of the available options in your area fits you well, and I say so. Sometimes the answer is to go back to Original Medicare. I will tell you what I see either way.

Want to talk through your notice with someone?