If your Medicare Advantage plan is ending in your county on December 31, 2026, federal law gives you a window to buy certain Medicare Supplement plans without answering health questions. The window opens when you receive your plan’s termination letter, and for a plan that ends December 31 it closes about March 4, 2027. Inside it, a company that sells one of the guaranteed plans cannot turn you down, cannot charge you more because of your health, and cannot make you wait out a pre-existing condition.
Most Medicare Advantage plans that are not renewing mail their members a letter dated October 2. If one of those letters is on your kitchen counter, here is what it means for you in Walton, Okaloosa and Bay counties, which plans you are guaranteed, and what to do before the deadlines.
Which Medicare Supplement plans are guaranteed when your Medicare Advantage plan ends?
It depends on when you first became eligible for Medicare. Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation lists the plans a company must sell you in this situation:
- New to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020: Plans A, B, D, G, high-deductible G, K and L.
- Eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020: Plans A, B, C, F, high-deductible F, K and L.
Two things surprise people. First, Plan N is not on either list, so buying Plan N in this situation usually means answering health questions. Second, if you were eligible for Medicare before 2020, the law guarantees Plan F in this situation, not Plan G. Some companies choose to offer more than the law requires, so ask us to check with the companies we represent before you apply.
For people new to Medicare since 2020, Plan G is the plan we see chosen most often. It pays your share of Medicare-covered costs except the yearly Part B deductible, and a standard Plan G works with any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare. That matters here, where many of our clients spend part of the year up north or travel to see family.
High-deductible G pays the same way once you meet a yearly deductible. The deductible is set by federal formula each year. For 2027 it is $3,050. You pay less each month and take on more of the early costs yourself, which fits some budgets and not others.
Who qualifies, and who does not
You have this right if your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving Medicare or stopping coverage in your area, or if you move out of the plan’s service area, and you switch to Original Medicare. The right is tied to the plan ending for you, not to being unhappy with it.
Read your letter carefully. If it says your plan is ending or leaving your county, the right applies, even if the same company offers you a different plan. If it says you will be moved automatically into another plan from the same company for 2027, that is usually a renewal, and this guaranteed-issue right usually does not apply. Changes to benefits or premiums on a plan that is renewing generally do not trigger it either. Bring the letter to our office, or read it to us over the phone, and we will go through it with you.
If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first became eligible for Medicare at 65 and have been in it less than a year, you may have a broader right that covers any Medicare Supplement plan sold in Florida. If you are under 65 and on Medicare because of a disability, the rules are different. In either case, call us before you apply for anything.
Your dates for 2027
- October 2, 2026: the date on letters from most Medicare Advantage plans that are not renewing. Your window to apply for a Medicare Supplement under this right opens when you receive the letter.
- October 15 through December 7, 2026: Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period, when anyone on Medicare can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or drug plan for January 1.
- December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027: a special enrollment period for members of plans that are not renewing, to choose a new Medicare Advantage plan or a drug plan.
- December 31, 2026: your current plan’s coverage ends.
- January 1, 2027: if you did not pick a new plan, you are in Original Medicare. A Medicare Supplement bought under this right can start no earlier than the day after your old plan’s coverage ends.
- About March 4, 2027: the last day to apply under this right, 63 days after your coverage ends.
If you do nothing, you do not lose Medicare. You land in Original Medicare on January 1 with no supplement and, if your old plan included drug coverage, no drug plan. That is the combination to avoid.
Get the order right: the supplement first, then the drug plan
A Medicare Supplement does not include drug coverage, so most people who make this move also pick a standalone Part D plan. Two mechanics matter.
- Enrolling in a standalone drug plan automatically ends a Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage. If you are switching during the Annual Enrollment Period, get the supplement approved before the drug plan goes in.
- Choose the drug plan by December 31 so it starts January 1 with no gap in coverage.
Part D changes again in 2027. Medicare caps your yearly out-of-pocket cost for covered drugs at $2,400 and limits a plan’s deductible to $700, and the federal program that has been holding some standalone drug plan premiums down ends after 2026. We run your prescriptions through Medicare’s Plan Finder and compare the total yearly cost, premium plus drugs, before you choose.
What if a Medicare Supplement is not the right fit?
You can also choose another Medicare Advantage plan during the Annual Enrollment Period or the special period that follows it. For some people that is the better choice. We represent more than one company, and we lay the options side by side: your doctors, your prescriptions, and your total yearly cost.
Why this window matters more in Florida
Outside a guaranteed-issue window or your Medigap open enrollment period (the six months that start when you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B), Florida lets Medicare Supplement companies use health questions and turn an applicant down. Florida has no yearly birthday rule that lets you switch supplements without health questions. For many people leaving a Medicare Advantage plan this winter, this may be the only time in years they can buy a supplement without health questions.
What to do this week
- Find the letter from your plan and look for words like “non-renewal” or “no longer offered.” Keep it. The supplement company may ask for a copy.
- Write down your doctors and your prescriptions with the doses.
- Do not cancel anything on your own. Your current plan keeps working through December 31.
- Call us. We go over the dates in your letter, the plans the law guarantees you, and your options with the companies we represent before anything is submitted.
For more on how the plans work, see our Medicare Supplement page and our guide to Medicare’s three paths.
Questions we are hearing
My Medicare Advantage plan is ending. Do I have to buy a Medicare Supplement?
No. You can choose another Medicare Advantage plan, or go to Original Medicare with or without a supplement. The guaranteed-issue right means that if you want one of the guaranteed plans, a company that sells it in Florida cannot use your health to turn you down or charge you more.
Can I get Plan G with no health questions?
If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, yes. Plan G and high-deductible G are on the guaranteed list. If you were eligible before 2020, the law guarantees Plan F instead, and a company may or may not offer Plan G without health questions. We can check with the companies we represent before you apply.
What if I miss the March deadline?
After about March 4, 2027, the guaranteed right ends. You can still apply for a supplement, but the company can ask health questions and decline you.
Can the new supplement start before my old plan ends?
No. The supplement can start no earlier than the day after your Medicare Advantage coverage ends, which for a December 31 ending is January 1, 2027. Apply before December 31 if you want it to start January 1 with no gap.
My letter says I am moving into another plan from the same company. Does this apply to me?
Usually not, if the letter says you will be moved automatically into the other plan. If it says your plan is ending or leaving your county, the right applies. Bring us the letter and we will read it with you.
Does it cost anything to talk with you?
No. There is no fee for our help. Medicare Supplement and drug plan premiums are set by the insurance company and are the same whether you enroll through us or on your own.
Where these rules come from
The guaranteed-issue right is in Section 1882(s)(3) of the Social Security Act. The plan lists above follow the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s Medigap guidance, and the window and start-date rules follow Medicare’s guide to choosing a Medigap policy. The October 2 letter date is a CMS requirement for most plans that are not renewing.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 3 organizations which offer 8 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
Call the office at 850-622-5283 and ask for Chris Jayne, Trista Cordell, or Garrett Fuller, Fuller Insurance LLC, Florida license L039483. We are open 9 to 4, Monday through Thursday, on US Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. When you share your information with us, a licensed Fuller Insurance agent will contact you about your Medicare options.
Fuller Insurance is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.
By Garrett Fuller, Principal Agent, Fuller Insurance LLC, Santa Rosa Beach. Florida insurance license A091162, National Producer Number 600180.
