Mostly renters, and older north of Montana
Santa Monica's five ZIP codes hold 93,581 people. Of those, 18,777 are 65 or older, about one in five (20.1 percent). North of Montana Avenue, in 90402, the share climbs to 28.4 percent, and half the people there are older than 52.7. Downtown, in 90401, the median age falls to 36.9, and one person in eight (12.5 percent) is 65 or older. About seven in ten households rent. Citywide, just 29.3 percent own their home, and by ZIP code that share runs from 73.9 percent in 90402 down to 5.2 percent in 90401. Median household income ranges from $95,139 to $159,100, depending on the ZIP code. One person in ten age 5 and up speaks Spanish at home (10.1 percent). Most, 72.8 percent, speak only English. Every figure in this section is from the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. We got the 18,777 by adding the survey's counts for each age group from 65 up.
UCLA and Saint John's contract with plans separately
Santa Monica has two general hospitals inside its city limits. Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, at 1250 16th Street, is licensed for 281 beds. Providence Saint John's Health Center, at 2121 Santa Monica Blvd, is licensed for 266. East of the city, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is licensed for 919. Kaiser Foundation Hospital West Los Angeles, licensed for 265, is the nearest Kaiser hospital. For routine care there, you need to be in a Kaiser plan. The bed counts are the ones California's licensing records showed in September 2026. UCLA, Providence and Cedars-Sinai each make their own deals with plans. A Medicare Advantage plan that covers your UCLA doctor may not cover Saint John's, and one that covers Saint John's may not cover Cedars. Plans reach doctors by way of medical groups, and one insurer's plans don't all use the same groups. Those deals get renegotiated, and that is how a hospital can end up leaving a plan's network. That is why Lara asks for names. Hand her a list: every doctor you see, your hospital, your pharmacy. She looks each one up, plan by plan, before you enroll. She goes back through your list each fall, when plans release their changes, so a dropped contract does not catch you off guard.
Owning north of Montana, or renting
For owners north of Montana, the first decision is usually between a Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage. A Supplement's monthly premium is higher. In return, a year of heavy medical bills costs you far less out of pocket. If you own a house and see specialists at UCLA or Cedars you mean to keep, that protection counts for more. If you rent, as about seven in ten Santa Monica households do, the first questions are different. Lara checks whether a plan includes the doctors you see now, on Wilshire or at Saint John's, and whether your income could get you help with costs. Two programs are worth asking about before you look at plans. With Extra Help, your Part D premium and copays go down if your income and savings fall below set limits. If Medi-Cal covers you too, a Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan becomes an option. It takes Lara a few minutes to see whether either is open to you.
Medicare Advantage across Los Angeles County in 2027
About 57 percent of Los Angeles County's 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage or another Medicare health plan (CMS, May 2026). The county has 70 Medicare Advantage plans open to general enrollment in 2027, plus 54 Special Needs Plans, and 60 of the 70 charge a $0 monthly plan premium (CMS 2027 Landscape file). What varies far more is the out of pocket maximum, the most you pay in a year for covered care in network: our analysis of the same file puts the average at $2,232 and the median at $1,500, with a range from $199 to $9,850.
Lara is a licensed insurance agent. Insurance companies pay her when you enroll, so her help costs you nothing and your premium is the same with or without her.
How Lara is paidIndependent Medicare help in Santa Monica
Goulson Insurance Services Inc. is an independent insurance agency, and our agents work as licensed brokers for Santa Monica families. No single insurance company employs us or decides what we recommend, so the comparison starts with your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget. We put Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and Part D plans from several carriers side by side, and you enroll only if one fits. The agency holds CA license 6020069, Lara Goulson holds CA license 0E69969, and we work in English, Spanish and Hebrew.
Life insurance, long term care and help with claims
Lara also helps families from Ocean Park to north of Montana with final expense coverage, life insurance and long term care. She handles those on a separate call or visit, never as part of a Medicare review. Enrollment isn't the end of her job. When your plan denies a claim, the two of you call the plan together. She also makes calls with you to doctors' offices, and to hospital billing departments when a charge looks wrong.
Text or call (818) 472-5484 with the names of your UCLA or Saint John's doctors.
You reach Lara directly · English, Español, עברית · Licensed in 12 states · 5.0 on Google · No cost to you
Nearby Neighborhoods
We serve the whole San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles. These are the neighborhood pages closest to this one.