My Medicare Plan Is Leaving My County. What Happens Now?

If your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan is discontinuing or no longer serving your county, you don't have to wait for the next Annual Enrollment Period to pick a new plan. This situation triggers a Special Enrollment Period specifically because it isn't something you chose or could have planned around. You'll receive a formal written notice from your plan, and that notice starts a window during which you can enroll in a new plan without waiting for AEP.

Why plans leave a service area

Insurers decide each year which counties they'll offer a given plan in, based on their own business and network considerations. A plan might discontinue entirely, or it might continue to exist but stop being offered in your specific county while remaining available elsewhere. Either way, the result for you is the same: the plan you're enrolled in will not be available to you starting the next plan year.

This isn't a reflection of anything about you as a member, and it isn't something you can appeal or reverse. It's a business decision made at the plan level, and Medicare's response to it is built around making sure members in that situation aren't left without a path to continued coverage.

The formal notice

When a plan is discontinuing or leaving your service area, Medicare rules require the plan to notify affected members in writing before the change takes effect. The notice explains that your current plan will no longer be available to you and lays out your options going forward, generally including information about other plans available in your county and the timeline for making a change.

Plans are required to notify members before the end of the current plan year, giving you time to review other options ahead of losing your current coverage. The exact timing can vary somewhat depending on the specific circumstances of the discontinuation, so treat the notice you actually receive as the authoritative source for your deadline rather than assuming a specific date in advance. If you believe your plan may be leaving your area but haven't received a notice, contact the plan directly or check Medicare.gov's plan finder to confirm the plan's status for your county in the coming year.

The Special Enrollment Period

Losing your plan because it's leaving your service area qualifies as a triggering event for a Special Enrollment Period, or SEP. This is one of the more clear-cut SEP categories, in contrast to situations that require case-by-case judgment. The practical effect is that you don't have to wait for the Annual Enrollment Period in the fall — you can enroll in a new plan during the window tied to your plan's discontinuation, and your new coverage generally begins at the start of the plan year following your old plan's exit, so there isn't a gap in coverage.

During this SEP, your options generally include:

Enrolling in a different Medicare Advantage plan offered in your county, if one is available and fits your needs.

Returning to Original Medicare, paired with a stand-alone Part D plan if you want drug coverage. This may also open the door to considering a Medigap policy — and losing a Medicare Advantage plan due to it leaving your service area is one of the circumstances that can carry its own Medigap guaranteed-issue right, which is worth confirming specifically rather than assuming.

Choosing a different Part D plan, if it's your stand-alone drug plan rather than your medical coverage that's being discontinued.

The specific mechanics of your SEP — including exact start and end dates — are detailed in the notice your plan sends you. That notice is the document to follow for your actual deadlines, not a general estimate.

How this differs from a plan simply changing its benefits

It's worth being clear about the difference between a plan discontinuing or leaving your county and a plan simply changing its benefits for the coming year. Every plan updates its premium, cost-sharing, drug list, and network to some degree each year, and those changes show up in your ANOC letter without triggering any special enrollment rights — they're just part of the normal annual cycle, and your response to them is to review the ANOC and, if you want to make a change, use the Annual Enrollment Period like anyone else.

A plan leaving your service area entirely is a different category of event. You aren't simply being asked to evaluate whether the new terms still work for you — the plan itself will not exist as an option for you going forward, through no choice of your own. That distinction is why Medicare rules treat it differently, with a dedicated notice requirement and a Special Enrollment Period rather than folding it into the standard annual review process. If you're ever unsure which situation you're in, the plan's own notice will state clearly which category applies, and it's worth reading that specific language rather than assuming based on how the letter looks at a glance.

If you're eligible for a Medigap guaranteed-issue right

One detail worth double-checking with a licensed agent or your state insurance department: some guaranteed-issue rights for Medigap policies are specifically tied to a Medicare Advantage plan discontinuing or leaving your area, separate from the general SEP that lets you pick a new Medicare Advantage plan. If you're considering a move to Original Medicare with a Medigap policy rather than another Medicare Advantage plan, this is worth raising directly, since it can mean the difference between applying for a Medigap policy through underwriting and applying with a guaranteed right to be accepted. Not every discontinuation scenario qualifies, and the details depend on your specific circumstances, so confirm rather than assume either way.

What to do while you wait for the notice, or after it arrives

If you know or suspect your plan is discontinuing, there are a few things worth doing regardless of exactly when your SEP window opens:

Don't assume your current doctors and pharmacies map cleanly onto other plans. Just because your current plan is leaving doesn't mean the plans replacing it in your county have the same network. Check provider directories for any plan you're considering.

Review your medications against new plan formularies. The same logic applies to drug coverage — a new plan's formulary and tier structure may differ meaningfully from what you're used to.

Keep the notice itself. It documents your SEP eligibility and the specific dates that apply to you, which can matter if there's ever a question about your enrollment timeline.

Don't wait until the last minute even though you have a window. An SEP gives you more time than scrambling during the final days of AEP would, but that doesn't mean the decision deserves less attention. Use the extra time to actually compare plans rather than letting the deadline creep up on you.

The bottom line

A Medicare Advantage or Part D plan discontinuing or leaving your county is not something you have to simply absorb without options. Medicare rules require your plan to notify you in writing before the plan year ends, and that notice triggers a Special Enrollment Period that lets you pick a new plan without waiting for the next Annual Enrollment Period. The notice itself is the authoritative source for your specific deadlines and options, so read it carefully when it arrives, and don't hesitate to contact your plan directly if you suspect a change is coming before you've received anything in writing.

For official information on plan discontinuations and Special Enrollment Periods, see Medicare.gov's guide to Special Enrollment Periods and CMS's Medicare Advantage and Part D program guidance.