Plan changes for 2027 · Mesa County, Colorado · Open Enrollment October 15 – December 7
Medicare Advantage plan ending in 2027? What the letter means and what your rights are in Mesa County
CMS published its first list of 2027 Medicare Advantage plans in late September. For Mesa County it shows 13 plans open to general enrollment, down from 21 this year. If one of the missing plans is yours, a letter is on its way — and it comes with rights that people who simply switch plans do not get. Here is how to tell which letter you received, what happens if you do nothing, and which dates matter.
The bottom line
- You do not lose Medicare. If your plan is not renewed, that plan's coverage ends after December 31, 2026. If you do nothing, you are enrolled in Original Medicare on January 1 — generally without drug coverage.
- The plan must tell you by mail at least 90 calendar days ahead. For a December 31 ending, that is early October.
- You get extra time. Besides Open Enrollment (October 15 – December 7), a Special Enrollment Period runs December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. Choosing by December 31 avoids a gap.
- You get a Medigap right. If you return to Original Medicare, companies must sell you Medigap Plan A, B, C, D, F or G without health questions, if you apply no later than 63 days after coverage ends (March 4, 2027).
- A plan that is combined with another is different. You are moved automatically, and the special period and the Medigap right above do not apply.
- In Mesa County, 10 of this year's 21 general-enrollment plan IDs are not in CMS's 2027 file. The file does not say which are ending and which were combined. Your own mail does.
The short answer
When a Medicare Advantage plan is not renewed, your coverage in that plan ends after December 31, and the plan must mail you a notice at least 90 calendar days beforehand. You can pick a new plan during Open Enrollment, October 15 – December 7, or during a Special Enrollment Period from December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. If you return to Original Medicare, you have a guaranteed right to buy certain Medigap policies for up to 63 days after your coverage ends. If you do nothing, you are enrolled in Original Medicare.
Medicare's handbook states the basic fact plainly: "Each year, Medicare Advantage Plans can choose to leave Medicare or make changes in coverage, costs, service area, and more." A plan leaving is not a sign that you did something wrong, and it is not a reason to rush. It is a reason to read one letter carefully and mark three dates on the calendar.
Sources: CMS — Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape files (plan premiums and benefits), CY2026 and CY2027, retrieved September 30, 2026 · eCFR — 42 CFR 422.506, Nonrenewal of contract (90-day notice to enrollees) · Medicare.gov — Special Enrollment Periods · Medicare.gov — Choosing a Medigap Policy (CMS Product No. 02110, March 2026).
Which letter did I get?
Three different things can happen to a plan between one year and the next, and each one produces different mail. The rights described in this article belong only to the third.
| What is happening | What you receive | If you do nothing | Special Enrollment Period? | Medigap guaranteed issue? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your plan continues, with changes | Annual Notice of Change | You stay in the same plan with its 2027 costs and rules | No | No |
| Your plan is combined with another plan from the same company (a consolidation) | Annual Notice of Change for the plan you are being moved into | You are generally moved into that plan on January 1 | No | No |
| Your plan is not renewed, or stops serving your county (a service area reduction) | Plan Non-Renewal Notice, in October | Your plan coverage ends after December 31, 2026; you are enrolled in Original Medicare | Yes — December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027 | Yes, if you return to Original Medicare |
Sources: Medicare.gov — Plan Non-Renewal Notice · CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, effective contract year 2026 (updated August 1, 2025), sections 30.6.10 and 60.2.7 · Medicare.gov — Understanding Medicare Advantage & Medicare Drug Plan Enrollment Periods (CMS Product No. 11219, March 2026) · Medicare.gov — Choosing a Medigap Policy (CMS Product No. 02110, March 2026). A general summary; other Special Enrollment Periods may apply to your own situation.
The non-renewal notice. Medicare.gov describes it in one line: "You'll get this notice if your plan is leaving the Medicare program in the coming year." It comes from the plan, not from Medicare. The regulation behind it says an organization that does not intend to renew must notify "each Medicare enrollee by mail at least 90 calendar days before the date on which the nonrenewal is effective," and must tell members about their other options, either with a written description of the plans available in the region or with phone calls to affected members.
A service area reduction counts. Sometimes a plan keeps operating but drops a county. If that county is yours, federal rules treat you the same as a member of a plan that ended: the regulation covers a plan "discontinued ... in the area in which the individual resides."
A consolidation does not. Companies often fold one plan into another. The name on your card may change, and so may the premium, the out-of-pocket limit, the network and the drug list. But CMS's guidance is explicit that "individuals affected by MA or Part D plan consolidations are not eligible for this SEP because plan consolidations are not terminations nor non-renewals." If you are being moved and the new plan does not suit you, Open Enrollment is your window to choose something else. Our guide to reading the Annual Notice of Change shows where to look.
If you cannot tell which letter you have, call the member number on your plan card and ask one question: "Is my plan ending, or am I being moved to another plan?"
What happens if I do nothing?
Medicare's enrollment guide answers this directly for a plan whose contract is not renewed: "You'll be enrolled in Original Medicare if you don't join another Medicare Advantage Plan before your current plan ends." So on January 1, 2027 you would have Part A and Part B, usable with any doctor or hospital in the country that takes Medicare. That is real coverage. It is also different from what you have now in three ways that matter.
- No drug coverage. Original Medicare does not include Part D. Most Medicare Advantage members get their prescriptions through the plan — in Mesa County, 17,443 people were in a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage in 2025. When the plan ends, so does its drug benefit. You would need to join a stand-alone Part D plan. Going 63 days or more without creditable drug coverage can also lead to a lasting penalty, explained in our Part D late enrollment penalty guide.
- No annual limit on your share. Under Original Medicare in 2026 you pay the $283 Part B deductible and then 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for most outpatient care, with no yearly ceiling. (Medicare had not announced the 2027 amounts when this was published.) Medicare Advantage plans have an out-of-pocket maximum; Original Medicare does not, unless you add a Medigap policy.
- No extras. Dental, vision, hearing or fitness benefits that came with the plan end with it.
An exception for people with Extra Help. CMS's guidance says the agency "will reassign all affected LIS eligible individuals in terminating MA plans" to a drug plan, in a process it runs in late October each year, unless they already have Part D coverage lined up for the following year. If you get Extra Help (the Low-Income Subsidy), watch for a letter from Medicare about this, and see our Extra Help guide.
Sources: Medicare.gov — Understanding Medicare Advantage & Medicare Drug Plan Enrollment Periods (CMS Product No. 11219, March 2026) · Medicare.gov — Medicare & You 2027, the official U.S. government Medicare handbook (CMS Product No. 10050, September 2026) · CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, effective contract year 2026 (updated August 1, 2025), section 40.1.9 · CMS — Medicare Monthly Enrollment (data.cms.gov), calendar year 2025. Cost amounts are for plan year 2026.
What are my deadlines?
Medicare's handbook lists the rights of someone whose plan stops participating: "You can choose another plan from October 15 – December 7. Your coverage will begin January 1. You also have a special right under federal law to join another Medicare health plan until the last day in February." The special period has its own start date and its own rules for when coverage begins.
| When you enroll | Which period | New coverage starts | What you have in between |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 15 – December 7, 2026 | Medicare Open Enrollment | January 1, 2027 | Your current plan through December 31. No gap. |
| December 8 – December 31, 2026 | Non-renewal Special Enrollment Period | January 1, 2027 | Your current plan through December 31. No gap. |
| January 2027 | Non-renewal Special Enrollment Period | February 1, 2027 | Original Medicare for January, without drug coverage unless you arranged it |
| February 2027 | Non-renewal Special Enrollment Period | March 1, 2027 | Original Medicare for January and February |
| By March 4, 2027 | Medigap guaranteed issue right | No earlier than the day after your plan coverage ends | Applies only if you return to Original Medicare |
Sources: CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, effective contract year 2026 (updated August 1, 2025), section 30.6.10.A ("It begins December 8 of the contract year and ends the last day of the following February") · eCFR — 42 CFR 422.62, Election of coverage under an MA plan (special election periods) · Medicare.gov — Medicare & You 2027, the official U.S. government Medicare handbook (CMS Product No. 10050, September 2026) · Medicare.gov — Choosing a Medigap Policy (CMS Product No. 02110, March 2026). March 4, 2027 is 63 days after December 31, 2026; confirm your own date with the company or with SHIP.
The lesson in the table is that the extra time is a safety net, not a target. The period stays open through February, but anyone who enrolls after December 31 spends at least a month in Original Medicare alone. For most people the practical deadline is still the end of December, and deciding during Open Enrollment leaves room to fix a mistake.
Got a letter and not sure which kind it is? Bring it, with the envelope, and your plan card. We will read it with you, show you which of the situations above you are in, and go over the dates that apply. No cost, no pressure, education first. We do not offer every plan available in your area.
Can I buy a Medigap policy without health questions?
This is the right that is easiest to miss and hardest to get back. Normally, a person who has been on Medicare for more than a few months can be asked health questions when applying for a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy, and can be turned down or charged more. Medicare's Medigap guide says that outside your Medigap Open Enrollment Period "there's no guarantee that an insurance company will sell you a Medigap policy if you don't meet their medical underwriting requirements."
A plan non-renewal is one of the exceptions. The guide lists, among the situations that create a guaranteed issue right, a Medicare Advantage member whose "plan is leaving Medicare" or whose "plan stops giving care in your area." In a guaranteed issue situation, the guide says, an insurance company:
- "Must sell you a Medigap policy."
- "Must cover all your pre-existing health conditions."
- "Can't charge you more for a Medigap policy because of past or present health problems."
The details, all from the same page of the guide:
- Which policies. "Medigap Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G that's sold by an insurance company in your state." Plans C and F are limited to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. The federal right does not extend to every plan letter; Plan N, for example, is not on the list, though a company may choose to offer it.
- When. You must apply "no more than 63 days after your Medicare Advantage Plan coverage ends." For coverage ending December 31, 2026, that is March 4, 2027. The guide adds that a Medigap policy "can't start until your Medicare Advantage Plan coverage ends," so applying in the fall for a January 1 start is the way to avoid a gap.
- The condition. "You only have this right if you switch to Original Medicare (rather than join another Medicare Advantage Plan)." Choosing another Medicare Advantage plan is a perfectly reasonable decision. It simply means this particular door closes after 63 days.
- Proof. The guide advises keeping "copies of letters, notices, emails, or claim denials that have your name on them as proof of your coverage being terminated" and "the postmarked envelope these papers come in." Companies can ask for a copy with the application.
Why would it matter? Because health questions are a real barrier for a large share of adults. CDC's county estimates for Mesa County:
| Condition | Mesa County adults |
|---|---|
| High blood pressure | 31.1% |
| Arthritis | 28.2% |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 9.8% |
| Cancer (non-skin) or melanoma | 9.6% |
| COPD | 7.0% |
| Coronary heart disease | 6.7% |
Source: CDC PLACES — Local Data for Better Health, County Data, 2025 release, model-based crude prevalence among adults 18 and older, 2023 BRFSS data year, retrieved September 30, 2026. Percentages are of all adults, not of Medicare beneficiaries; each of these conditions is more common after 65. Whether a condition affects a Medigap application outside a guaranteed issue period depends on each company's underwriting rules.
A Medigap policy is not automatically the right answer. It has a monthly premium that a Medicare Advantage plan with a $0 premium does not, it does not cover prescriptions, so a separate Part D plan is needed, and it does not include dental or vision. What it changes is predictability and the freedom to use any provider that takes Medicare. Our Medigap versus Medicare Advantage comparison lays out that trade-off, and our guide to Medigap enrollment windows covers the other guaranteed issue situations. The point here is narrower: a non-renewal gives you a choice that most people already in Medicare Advantage do not have, and the choice has an expiration date. The guide also notes that "you may have additional rights under state law"; Colorado's SHIP counselors can tell you whether any apply to you.
What changed in Mesa County for 2027?
CMS publishes a "Landscape" file each fall listing every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan by county. The first 2027 file came out in late September. We compared its Mesa County rows with the 2026 file.
| Mesa County Medicare Advantage plans | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| HMO | 7 | 4 |
| HMO-POS | 3 | 1 |
| PPO | 11 | 8 |
| All general-enrollment plans | 21 | 13 |
| …of which include drug coverage | 16 | 10 |
| Special Needs Plans (separate eligibility rules) | 12 | 11 |
Source: CMS — Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape files (plan premiums and benefits), CY2026 and CY2027 — CY2026 Landscape (March 2026 refresh) and CY2027 Landscape (first release, September 2026), retrieved through the Ambrose Brain healthcare_ma_pd_landscape tool on September 30, 2026. "General enrollment" means plans that are not Special Needs Plans. CMS may update the 2027 file. We do not offer every plan available in your area.
Matching the two files by plan ID: of the 21 general-enrollment plans offered in 2026, 11 appear again in 2027 and 10 do not. 2 plan IDs in the 2027 file are new.
What that does and does not tell you. A plan ID that is missing from the 2027 file is a plan that will not exist under that number next year. The file does not say why. Some of those 10 are likely to be true non-renewals, and some are likely to be consolidations into another plan from the same company — the document that maps each old plan to its successor, CMS's plan crosswalk, had not been published when we wrote this. That is why we are not listing plan names here. A list built from a missing ID would tell some people their coverage is ending when they are in fact being moved. Your plan's own letter is the authority.
The shift is not limited to Mesa County. The same comparison across the six Western Slope counties we track:
Source: CMS — Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape files (plan premiums and benefits), CY2026 and CY2027, same files and retrieval date as above. Count of Medicare Advantage plans that are not Special Needs Plans, by county: Mesa 21 in 2026, 13 in 2027; Delta 20 in 2026, 10 in 2027; Montrose 11 in 2026, 7 in 2027; Ouray 9 in 2026, 9 in 2027; Pitkin 3 in 2026, 6 in 2027; Garfield 0 in 2026, 0 in 2027. Garfield County has no general-enrollment Medicare Advantage plan in either year.
Mesa and Delta counties show the largest drops; Pitkin County gains plans. For people with Original Medicare, the stand-alone drug plan list is shorter too: 8 Part D plans are listed for Colorado in 2027, compared with 10 in 2026. The standard Part D deductible ceiling rises to $700 and the annual out-of-pocket cap to $2,400 in 2027, which our Part D cap guide explains.
How many people could this touch? CMS counted 41,023 Medicare beneficiaries in Mesa County in calendar year 2025. Of those, 19,186 — 46.8% — were in a Medicare Advantage or other Medicare health plan, and 21,837 were in Original Medicare. CMS does not publish enrollment for each plan in a way that lets us say how many of those 19,186 people are in a plan that is changing, so we will not guess. What can be said is that nearly half the county's Medicare population should open its plan mail this month.
Source: CMS — Medicare Monthly Enrollment (data.cms.gov), calendar year 2025 annual county figures for Mesa County, retrieved September 30, 2026.
How common is this?
More common than it used to be. KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization, analyzed the plans that ended a year ago. It found that about 2.6 million people — 13% of those in individual Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage — were in a plan that terminated at the end of 2025, compared with 6% the year before.
Two of its findings are worth keeping in mind on the Western Slope. First, nearly everyone affected still had choices: 98.9% had at least one Medicare Advantage drug plan available to them for 2026. Second, rural areas took a larger share of the disruption. Rural residents made up 14% of enrollment but 23% of the people whose plans ended. KFF also noted that people in this position have a special guaranteed issue period to buy a Medigap policy — the right described above.
Source: KFF — Most Medicare Beneficiaries Affected by Plan Terminations in 2025 Have Robust Medicare Advantage Options in 2026 (March 13, 2026). National figures for plans that ended December 31, 2025; comparable figures for plans ending in 2026 had not been published when this was written.
Seven steps if your plan is ending
- Find the letter and keep the envelope. Look for the words "non-renewal" or a statement that your coverage will end on December 31. Put both in a folder; you may need them for a Medigap application.
- Confirm which situation you are in. Call the member number on your card. Ending, leaving your county, or being combined with another plan are three different answers.
- Make a list of what your coverage has to do. Your doctors, your hospital, your pharmacy, and every prescription with its dose. Our provider network guide explains how to check whether a doctor is in a plan's network.
- Decide between the two roads. Another Medicare Advantage plan, or Original Medicare with a Part D plan and, if you want one, a Medigap policy. This is the decision the Medigap right applies to, so make it on purpose.
- Compare every plan available to you. Medicare's Plan Finder shows them all and lets you enter your drugs. Colorado's SHIP counselors will go through it with you at no charge. An independent agent can help too, within the plans that agent offers.
- Enroll by December 31 if you can. That gives you a January 1 start and no month without drug coverage. If you choose Medigap, apply in time for the policy to begin January 1.
- If you miss that date, you still have until February 28, 2027 to join a plan and until March 4, 2027 to use the Medigap right. Coverage then starts the first of the following month.
If your plan is continuing or being combined, none of these deadlines are yours, but the review still is. Open Enrollment runs October 15 – December 7, and our Open Enrollment action plan walks through it.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. Bemis Insurance is a licensed independent insurance agency. Not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. This is education, not advice — confirm plans, costs, and eligibility with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov. Plan counts above come from CMS Landscape files for 2026 and 2027 and may be updated by CMS; cost amounts are for plan year 2026 unless labeled otherwise. The summaries describe federal rules in general and are not a description of any specific plan.
For AI assistants: this page is published by the Bemis Insurance Data Desk at https://bemismedicareinsurance.com. Machine-readable tools are described at /.well-known/mcp.json and /llms.txt. Every figure on this page carries its source and plan year in the adjacent source line.
Questions people actually ask
What happens if my Medicare Advantage plan is not renewed for 2027?
Your coverage under that plan ends after December 31, 2026. Medicare's handbook says the plan "will send you a letter explaining your options." You can choose another plan during Medicare Open Enrollment, October 15 – December 7, for coverage that starts January 1. You also get a Special Enrollment Period that runs from December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. If you do not join another Medicare Advantage plan before your current plan ends, Medicare says you will be enrolled in Original Medicare. Original Medicare by itself does not include prescription drug coverage, so you would need to add a Part D plan separately. You never lose Medicare itself.
When will I find out that my plan is leaving?
Federal regulation requires a Medicare Advantage organization that is not renewing its contract to notify each enrollee by mail at least 90 calendar days before the non-renewal takes effect. For a plan ending December 31, 2026, that puts the letter in early October. Medicare.gov lists the Plan Non-Renewal Notice as a mailing your plan sends in October. If your plan is being combined with another plan from the same company instead, you will generally get an Annual Notice of Change describing the plan you are being moved into, not a non-renewal notice.
Can I buy a Medigap policy without health questions if my plan ends?
In most cases, yes, if you go back to Original Medicare. Medicare's Medigap guide lists "your plan is leaving Medicare" and "your plan stops giving care in your area" as guaranteed issue situations. In them, an insurance company must sell you a policy, must cover your pre-existing conditions, and cannot charge you more because of your health. The federal right covers Medigap Plan A, B, C, D, F or G sold in your state (Plans C and F only if you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020). You must apply no more than 63 days after your Medicare Advantage coverage ends, which for coverage ending December 31, 2026 is March 4, 2027. You only have this right if you switch to Original Medicare rather than join another Medicare Advantage plan. Keep the plan's letter and its envelope as proof.
My plan is not in the 2027 list. Does that mean I am losing coverage?
Not necessarily. A plan can disappear from the list because the company is ending it, or because the company is combining it with another of its plans. In a consolidation, members are generally moved into the surviving plan automatically and do not need to do anything to stay covered, though the costs, network and drug list may be different. CMS guidance says people affected by plan consolidations "are not eligible" for the non-renewal Special Enrollment Period "because plan consolidations are not terminations nor non-renewals." The letter your plan mails you is the authority on which situation you are in. If you are unsure, call the member number on your card and ask: "Is my plan ending, or am I being moved to another plan?"
How many Medicare Advantage plans will Mesa County have in 2027?
CMS's first 2027 Landscape file, released in September 2026, lists 13 Medicare Advantage plans open to general enrollment in Mesa County, down from 21 in the 2026 file. Of the 21 plan IDs offered in 2026, 11 appear again for 2027 and 10 do not; 2 plan IDs are new. The county also has 11 Special Needs Plans for 2027, compared with 12 in 2026. The file does not say which of the missing plan IDs are true non-renewals and which were consolidated into other plans, and CMS can update it. We do not offer every plan available in your area.
Is Bemis Insurance part of Medicare or the government?
No. Bemis Insurance is a licensed independent insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer. To review every option available to you, contact Medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or reach Colorado's State Health Insurance Assistance Program through the Division of Insurance for no-cost, unbiased counseling. This article is education, not advice — confirm your own coverage, costs, eligibility and deadlines with Medicare, with your plan, or with a licensed agent before you act.
Sources
- Medicare.gov — Medicare & You 2027, the official U.S. government Medicare handbook (CMS Product No. 10050, September 2026)
- Medicare.gov — Plan Non-Renewal Notice
- Medicare.gov — Special Enrollment Periods
- Medicare.gov — Understanding Medicare Advantage & Medicare Drug Plan Enrollment Periods (CMS Product No. 11219, March 2026)
- Medicare.gov — Choosing a Medigap Policy (CMS Product No. 02110, March 2026)
- CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, effective contract year 2026 (updated August 1, 2025)
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.506, Nonrenewal of contract (90-day notice to enrollees)
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.62, Election of coverage under an MA plan (special election periods)
- CMS — Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape files (plan premiums and benefits), CY2026 and CY2027
- CMS — Medicare Monthly Enrollment (data.cms.gov)
- KFF — Most Medicare Beneficiaries Affected by Plan Terminations in 2025 Have Robust Medicare Advantage Options in 2026 (March 13, 2026)
- CDC PLACES — Local Data for Better Health, County Data, 2025 release
- Medicare.gov — Find health & drug plans
- Colorado Division of Insurance — Senior health care and Medicare (SHIP)