If your Medicare Advantage plan won’t continue in 2027, the calendar matters. Medicare gives you several windows to choose new coverage, and each one has its own rules. This guide covers each window in plain language for San Diego County residents. Your non-renewal notice is the final word on your own dates, so keep it handy.
The Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 to December 7
Anyone with Medicare can switch plans during this window, which runs every year. If you choose a new Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan by December 7, your new coverage generally starts January 1. That means no gap after your current plan ends on December 31.
For most people who are losing a plan, choosing during this window is the simplest path. It gives you time to confirm doctors and prescriptions without rushing.
The Special Enrollment Period after a non-renewal
When a plan is not renewed, Medicare generally gives the affected members a Special Enrollment Period. According to Medicare.gov, when a plan’s contract isn’t renewed, you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan between December 8 and the last day in February of the following year. If you don’t join another Medicare Advantage plan before your current plan ends, you’ll be in Original Medicare.
Keep in mind:
- If you enroll after January 1, your new coverage usually starts the first day of the month after you enroll. Until then you would have Original Medicare, which may mean no drug coverage for that time.
- Using this window doesn’t mean you have to stay in Medicare Advantage. You can also choose Original Medicare with a Part D plan.
The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 to March 31
If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you can make one change between January 1 and March 31. You can switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan, or go back to Original Medicare and join a Part D plan.
This window is useful if you pick a new plan for 2027 and then find it doesn’t fit. It applies only to people who are already in a Medicare Advantage plan. If your plan ends and you don’t choose a new one, you will be in Original Medicare instead and won’t use this window.
Medigap guaranteed-issue rights when a plan leaves
This is the window people most often miss.
Normally, buying a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy after your first enrollment period can involve health questions, and an insurer could decline you. But federal rules give you guaranteed-issue rights in certain situations, including when your Medicare Advantage plan stops offering coverage in your area. In these situations, Medicare’s official guide says an insurance company must sell you a Medigap policy, must cover all your pre-existing health conditions, and can’t charge you more because of past or present health problems.
Key points:
- You only have this right if you switch to Original Medicare, not if you join another Medicare Advantage plan.
- Timing: you can apply by the date in your plan’s termination notice, and no more than 63 days after your Medicare Advantage coverage ends. The Medigap policy can’t start until your Medicare Advantage coverage ends.
- Which policies: Medigap Plan A, B, D or G sold in California. People who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020 may also be able to buy Plan C or F.
- California may give you more rights under state law. HICAP, California’s free Medicare counseling program, or the California Department of Insurance can explain them.
If you’ve thought about moving from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare with a supplement, perhaps to see doctors outside a network or because you travel, a plan non-renewal may be the moment you can do it without health questions.
California’s birthday rule
California gives people who already have a Medicare Supplement policy a yearly window around their birthday. During that window they can change to another supplement with the same or fewer benefits without health questions.
How it relates to a plan non-renewal:
- The birthday rule does not help you move from Medicare Advantage into a supplement. For that, the guaranteed-issue rights above are what matter.
- If you move to a supplement now, the birthday rule may give you a chance to review and possibly switch supplements in future years.
How to check your doctors and medical group
Whichever path you’re considering, confirm your care before you enroll:
- Ask your doctor’s office which 2027 Medicare Advantage plans they will accept and through which medical group. In North County this might be Sharp Rees-Stealy, Sharp Community Medical Group, Graybill, Optum or another group.
- Search the plan’s 2027 provider directory, not the 2026 one.
- Check your hospitals. Make sure the hospitals you’d want to use are covered.
- Check your drugs and pharmacy on the plan’s 2027 drug list.
- If you’re thinking about a supplement, remember that Original Medicare lets you use any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare. You’ll want a separate Part D plan for prescriptions.
A simple timeline
- Now: Read your non-renewal notice and list your doctors, medical group, hospitals and prescriptions.
- By December 7: Choose a 2027 plan so coverage starts January 1.
- December 8 to the last day of February: Use your Special Enrollment Period if you still need to choose a new plan.
- Within 63 days after your coverage ends: This is the last chance to use your Medigap guaranteed-issue right if you’re moving to Original Medicare with a supplement.
- January 1 to March 31: If you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, you have one more chance to change.
Get help with your own dates
Every situation is a little different, and the dates on your notice are the ones that count. Brian McArthur at Design My Medicare is a licensed agent in North County. He helps San Diego County residents go through their notices, check doctors and prescriptions, and compare the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and Part D plans we offer.
Call 619-885-0556 to book a review with Brian.
To see all plans available to you, visit Medicare.gov/plan-compare or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
