Who has this right?
You qualify under 42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(3)(B)(ii) if you are in a Medicare Advantage plan and the plan ends, the company stops offering it in the area where you live, or you move out of its service area. Medicare's March 2026 Medigap guide also lists a significant change to the plan's network. The right is for people who switch to Original Medicare; it does not apply if you join another Medicare Advantage plan instead. If your plan ID is on a 2027 renewal letter, the plan ID lookup shows whether CMS lists the plan as ending in your county.
When is the deadline?
The window opens when you receive your plan's termination notice and closes 63 days after your Medicare Advantage coverage ends (42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(3)(E)(ii)). For coverage that ends December 31, 2026, the 63rd day is March 4, 2027. A Medigap policy cannot start until the Medicare Advantage coverage has ended, so apply before December 31 if you want it to start January 1 with no gap. Send the insurer proof of the termination with your application; the plan's termination notice works. If you never received one, call your plan and ask for it in writing.
Which Medigap plans can you buy?
Under federal law, any insurance company that sells these plans to new customers in your state must sell you Plan A, B, C or F if you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, or Plan A, B, D or G if you are new to Medicare on or after that date (42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(3)(C) and (z)(4)). It cannot turn you down, price the policy by your health or exclude a preexisting condition. In California, Insurance Code section 10192.12 and Health and Safety Code section 1358.12 add Plans K, L, M and N. Plans C and F still cannot be sold to anyone new to Medicare since January 1, 2020 (42 U.S.C. 1395ss(z)(1)). Other states can add rights of their own, so ask before you apply.
California's second right: your plan cut benefits or raised its price
California goes further than federal law. If your Medicare Advantage plan reduces a benefit, raises its premium or cost sharing, or, for a reason other than good cause relating to quality of care, stops working with a provider who is treating you, Insurance Code section 10192.12(b)(2)(D) and Health and Safety Code section 1358.12 let you buy a Medigap policy with no health questions from the same company, a subsidiary of its parent company or a network that contracts with the parent company. If none of them sells one, you can buy from any insurer, as long as the plan raised its premium by 15 percent or more, raised physician, hospital or drug copayments by 15 percent or more, reduced a benefit or dropped your provider. A policy from an unrelated insurer can be bought only during the annual enrollment period, October 15 to December 7, unless the plan dropped a provider who is treating you. When you leave the plan by choice, the window runs from 60 days before the date your disenrollment takes effect to 63 days after that date. Your plan's Annual Notice of Change is where to compare its 2027 premium, copayments and benefits with 2026.
What Plan G costs at 65 in California
Plan G benefits are the same from every insurer by law; the price is not. On the California Department of Insurance's 2026 guide, Plan G at 65 runs $2,245 to $4,517 a year in most of Los Angeles County and in Orange County. In the ZIP codes each county page's table covers, it runs $2,109 to $3,939 in San Diego County, $2,180 to $3,851 in Riverside County, $1,998 to $3,851 in Alameda and Contra Costa, $1,946 to $3,778 in Santa Clara County and $2,043 to $3,851 in Ventura County; some carriers charge more or less in those counties' other ZIP codes. Each page lists every carrier and says which ZIP codes its figures cover.
Before you switch: drug coverage and Medi-Cal
A Medigap policy works only with Original Medicare, and it does not cover prescriptions, so you will also want a Part D drug plan that starts the same day. If you have Medi-Cal or another state Medicaid program, insurers generally cannot sell you a Medigap policy. Lara Goulson can check which insurers are open to you and compare them at no cost to you.
Your plan is ending. Here is the order to do things in
First, confirm the end date and keep the termination notice. Second, compare insurers' prices for each plan open to you, including Plan G if you are new to Medicare since January 1, 2020, because each plan's benefits are the same from every insurer by law. Third, apply with the notice attached, and choose a Part D plan that starts the same day. Lara Goulson does all three with you at no cost, in English, Spanish or Hebrew.
Plan ending? Call (818) 472-5484 and Lara will check which Medigap plans are open to you, at no cost.
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