Key Takeaway
- About a million Medicare Advantage members will receive a non-renewal letter dated October 2 saying their plan ends December 31. Humana is dropping plans covering roughly 600,000 people (8 percent of its book, mostly 3.5 stars or lower); UnitedHealthcare is leaving 34 counties in 12 states; Centene and Molina are cutting too.
- A terminated plan triggers a federal guaranteed-issue right to buy Medigap Plan A, B, D, G, K, or L (or C or F if Medicare-eligible before 2020) from any insurer in your state, with no health questions and no health-based pricing. The window runs November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027.
- The right only applies if you return to Original Medicare. Accept the replacement Advantage plan your carrier "maps" you into and the door closes. Plan N is not on the federal list; Plan G is, and it is the one to price.
- Doing nothing is the worst outcome: on January 1 you land on Original Medicare with no Part D and no Medigap, facing uncapped 20 percent coinsurance and a permanent Part D late penalty that starts after 63 days.
- Decide during open enrollment (October 15 to December 7) so coverage starts January 1. Check 2027 networks, formularies, and star ratings yourself on Medicare.gov, and use your state SHIP office, because carriers are cutting agent commissions on plans agents will therefore never show you.
Humana alone is dropping plans covering 600,000 people, and the industry total passes a million. The letter dated October 2 also unlocks something most long-time Advantage members are told they can never have again: a Medigap policy with no health questions asked.
Sometime in the first week of October, a federally required letter will land in about a million mailboxes saying a Medicare Advantage plan ends December 31. The list of Medicare Advantage plans discontinued 2027 will bring is led by Humana, which told investors in July it is walking away from plans covering roughly 600,000 members, 8 percent of its book, concentrated in plans rated 3.5 stars or lower. UnitedHealthcare is leaving 34 counties in 12 states. Centene and Molina are cutting too. Every broker in America will read that letter to you as "time to pick a new Advantage plan," and Humana is counting on it, expecting to keep about 40 percent of the people it is dropping by sliding them into another Humana plan. Read the letter differently. For anyone who has been in Advantage long enough to acquire a medical history, it is the only door back to Medigap that federal law will ever open without a health questionnaire.
What the letter is and what it isn't
Two documents arrive in the fall. The Annual Notice of Change, due by September 30, is the routine one: your plan continues, here is what the premium, copays, drug list and network do next year. The non-renewal notice, dated October 2 at most plans because the law requires 90 days' warning before a December 31 termination, is not routine. It means the plan will not exist for you next year at all.
| Annual Notice of Change | Non-renewal notice | |
|---|---|---|
| Arrives | By September 30 | Dated October 2 (90 days before termination) |
| What it means | Your plan continues with changes to premium, copays, formulary, or network | Your plan ends December 31 and will not exist for you in 2027 |
| Your options | Switch to another Advantage plan during open enrollment | Switch to another Advantage plan, or return to Original Medicare with a guaranteed-issue Medigap right, plus an extended special enrollment period |
| Medigap without health questions | No | Yes, November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027 |
The difference between a plan shrinking and a plan ending is the whole game. If your hospital left the network but the plan survives, you can switch to another Advantage plan during open enrollment, and that is largely all you can do. If the plan itself is terminated, you get that option plus two more: a longer window to decide, and the Medigap right described below. This is why the letter is worth more than the coverage it cancels.
The Medigap door
Medicare's own guaranteed-issue chart says that when your Advantage plan leaves Medicare or stops giving care in your area, you have the right to buy Medigap Plan A, B, D, G, K or L, or Plan C or F if you were eligible for Medicare before 2020, from any insurer that sells it in your state. The insurer cannot refuse you and cannot charge you more for your health. You can apply as early as 60 days before your coverage ends and no later than 63 days after it ends, which for a December 31 termination means November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027.
Understand why that matters. Outside the six months after you first enroll in Part B, Medigap insurers in most states can ask health questions and decline you. A 72-year-old who has been on an Advantage plan for seven years and now has a heart condition cannot ordinarily get a Plan G at any price. A plan termination erases the questionnaire for one window. That is the option Humana's 40 percent retention plan quietly assumes you will not exercise.
There is one condition and one gap. The right applies only if you go back to Original Medicare rather than join another Advantage plan; take the replacement plan and the door closes. And Plan N, the cheaper policy agents often recommend, is not on the federal guaranteed list, so an insurer can underwrite you for it even now. Plan G is on the list, and it is the one to price.
The calendar
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| By Sept 30 | Annual Notice of Change arrives for plans that continue |
| Oct 1 | 2027 plans posted on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder |
| Oct 2 | Non-renewal notices dated; your plan is ending Dec 31 |
| Oct 15 to Dec 7 | Medicare open enrollment; pick a new Advantage plan or a drug plan for Jan 1 |
| Nov 1 | Earliest day to apply for Medigap under the guaranteed-issue right |
| Dec 8 to Feb 28, 2027 | Special enrollment period for members whose plan was non-renewed |
| Dec 31 | Old plan ends |
| Mar 4, 2027 | Last day to buy Medigap with no health questions |
The special enrollment period is real but it is a trap if you rely on it: coverage picked in January starts in February, and you are on Original Medicare with no supplement in the meantime. Decide in the open enrollment window so that whatever you choose starts January 1.
The default is the worst outcome available
If you do nothing, you are not renewed into anything. On January 1 you are on Original Medicare with no Part D drug plan and no Medigap: 20 percent coinsurance on outpatient care with no cap, full price at the pharmacy, and a permanent late-enrollment penalty on Part D that starts accruing after 63 days without drug coverage. That is not a hypothetical. It is the path for every member who treats the letter as junk mail, and Advantage members skew older and sicker than the people designing the mailers. For a sense of what "full price" means at the point of care, the posted menu at an urgent care is the gentle end of it.
How to decide
Price the Medigap route first, because it expires. Plan G in your ZIP code plus a standalone Part D plan is the number. Against it you have the projected 2027 Part B premium of $209.50, which you pay under either route, and the Part D deductible of $700 with a $2,400 out-of-pocket cap, which are already final. (Both figures, and how much of the 2027 Social Security raise they consume, are in our COLA breakdown.) If you have a condition that will put you in a hospital or an infusion chair next year, or you want to see the specialist across the state line, that route buys you any doctor who takes Medicare and predictable bills, and this is the one window in which it will sell to you.
| Original Medicare + Plan G + Part D | Replacement Medicare Advantage plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Part B $209.50 (projected) + Plan G premium + Part D premium | Part B $209.50 (projected) + plan premium, often $0 |
| Doctors and hospitals | Any provider that accepts Medicare, nationwide | Plan network only; check the 2027 directory |
| Outpatient coinsurance | Covered by Plan G after the Part B deductible | Copays per service up to the plan's out-of-pocket maximum |
| Drug coverage | Standalone Part D: $700 deductible, $2,400 cap (final for 2027) | Usually built in, same $700 deductible and $2,400 cap |
| Health questions | None if bought Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 4, 2027 under the guaranteed-issue right | None |
| Can you switch later? | To Advantage during any open enrollment | Back to Medigap only with underwriting in most states |
If you are healthy, rarely see a doctor and value the $0 premium, a replacement Advantage plan can be the right call, but pick it yourself. Do not accept the plan your carrier "maps" you into without checking three things against the 2027 documents: that your doctors and hospital are in network for 2027, not 2026 (major systems keep leaving; Fairview in Minnesota stops scheduling UnitedHealthcare Advantage patients January 1, and the University of Miami's system is exiting UnitedHealthcare's Advantage network); that your drugs are on the formulary at the same tier; and that the plan's star rating is not the same 3.5-or-lower band that got your current plan cut, or you will read this letter again next October.
Finally, be careful whom you ask. Aetna told marketing organizations it will pay no commissions on 123 of its Advantage plans in 33 states for 2027 without cancelling them, and other carriers did the same on selected plans last year. A plan that pays no commission is a plan no agent will show you, whether or not it is the best one in your county. Medicare.gov's Plan Finder shows all of them, and your state's SHIP office, the free counseling program that takes no commissions from anyone, will walk through it with you on the phone.
The letter says your plan is ending. What it does not say, because no one is paid to say it, is that from November 1 to March 4 you can buy the coverage insurers spend the rest of the decade declining to sell you. Open it. The insurance desk reads the fine print on these for a living.
Frequently asked questions
Which Medicare Advantage plans are being discontinued for 2027?
Humana is dropping plans covering about 600,000 members, roughly 8 percent of its Advantage book, concentrated in plans rated 3.5 stars or lower. UnitedHealthcare is exiting 34 counties in 12 states. Centene and Molina are also cutting plans. Industry-wide, more than a million members will receive non-renewal notices dated October 2, 2026. Your own plan's status will be in that letter and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder from October 1.
What happens if my Medicare Advantage plan is discontinued?
Your plan ends December 31 and you are not automatically enrolled in anything. You can pick a new Advantage plan during open enrollment (October 15 to December 7) for January 1 coverage, use a special enrollment period from December 8 to February 28, 2027, or return to Original Medicare. If you do nothing, on January 1 you are on Original Medicare with no Part D and no Medigap, facing uncapped 20 percent coinsurance and a permanent Part D late penalty after 63 days.
Can I get Medigap if my Medicare Advantage plan is cancelled?
Yes, with no health questions. A plan termination triggers a federal guaranteed-issue right to buy Medigap Plan A, B, D, G, K, or L (or C or F if you were Medicare-eligible before 2020) from any insurer selling it in your state. The insurer cannot refuse you or charge more for your health. Apply between 60 days before your plan ends and 63 days after: November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027. The right applies only if you return to Original Medicare rather than joining another Advantage plan. Plan N is not on the federal guaranteed list.
What is the difference between the Annual Notice of Change and a non-renewal letter?
The Annual Notice of Change, due by September 30, means your plan continues in 2027 with listed changes to premiums, copays, drug lists, or networks. A non-renewal notice, dated October 2 because the law requires 90 days' warning, means your plan ends December 31 entirely. Only the non-renewal notice unlocks the guaranteed-issue Medigap right and the extended special enrollment period.
Should I accept the replacement Medicare Advantage plan my insurer offers?
Not without checking it. Carriers expect to retain a large share of dropped members (Humana projects about 40 percent) by mapping them into another of their plans. Before accepting, confirm against 2027 documents that your doctors and hospital are in network for 2027, that your drugs are on the formulary at the same tier, and that the plan's star rating is above the 3.5-or-lower band that got your current plan cut. Accepting any Advantage plan closes the guaranteed-issue Medigap door.
When do I have to decide?
Decide during open enrollment, October 15 to December 7, so coverage starts January 1. The special enrollment period through February 28, 2027 exists, but coverage chosen in January does not start until February, leaving you on Original Medicare with no supplement in between. The Medigap guaranteed-issue window closes March 4, 2027.
