Medicare Plan Leaving Wenatchee? What to Do by Dec 31

More than 4 in 10 Chelan County residents live in Wenatchee, the county seat, and it is where the county's acute care hospital sits. If your Medicare Advantage plan wrote to say it is leaving, the plan still works through December 31, 2026. What you do before then decides whether January 1 is a non-event or a scramble at the pharmacy.

Wenatchee and Chelan County in numbers

Wenatchee population: 36,480 (OFM, April 1, 2026)
Wenatchee residents 65 and older: about 6,400, or roughly 18% (Census ACS 2020–2024; margin ±542)
Chelan County 65 and older: 18,865, about 23% (OFM, 2025)
Chelan County people with Medicare: 20,308 (CMS counts, July 2026)
In Original Medicare: 12,064, or 59.4%
In Medicare Advantage and other health plans: 8,244, or 40.6% (statewide: 49.7%)
Dual-eligible: 2,881

CMS publishes Medicare enrollment by county; there is no Wenatchee-only count. Counts are people, not plans.

Wenatchee is a little younger than the county around it, and the county as a whole uses Original Medicare more than Medicare Advantage. For contrast, Cowlitz County has 67.6% of enrollees in Medicare Advantage and other health plans. CMS doesn't publish how many people got non-renewal letters in either county, so treat these shares as background, not a count of who is affected.

What January 1, 2027 looks like if you do nothing

Here it is in order:

On December 31, 2026, your Medicare Advantage plan ends.
On January 1, Medicare enrolls you in Original Medicare automatically. Part A and Part B keep paying for hospital and doctor care. You are not uninsured.
Your drug coverage is gone. Original Medicare doesn't include it, and nobody adds a Part D plan for you, unless you get Extra Help; CMS reassigns Extra Help members to a stand-alone drug plan.
You have no Medigap policy, so Original Medicare's deductibles and coinsurance land on you, with no yearly out-of-pocket limit.
You still have until February 28, 2027 to fix it under the special enrollment period for people whose plan ended. A choice in January starts February 1; a choice in February starts March 1.

One more wrinkle. The January 1 to March 31 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period is only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. If you fell into Original Medicare by default, it doesn't help you join a new one; your deadline for that is February 28.

And the Part D clock: a stretch of 63 days or more without creditable drug coverage can add a late penalty to your premium for as long as you have Part D. The fix for all of the above is simple. Pick your coverage by December 31 and it starts January 1, 2027.

Your choices before then

Another Medicare Advantage plan offered in Chelan County. Confirm Central Washington Hospital, your doctors and your pharmacy are in its 2027 network, and run your prescriptions through Medicare Plan Finder. Joining one for January 1 also gives you the January–March window to change once if it disappoints.

Original Medicare plus a Part D plan, and Medigap if you want it. Your plan leaving gives you a guaranteed issue right under RCW 48.66.055 to buy certain Medigap plans with no health questions. OIC says apply on or after November 1; the right runs out March 4, 2027. Medigap is the piece you can't easily buy later, so decide on it now rather than after the window closes. Plan letters and the rest of the detail are in the statewide page on discontinued Medicare plans in Washington.

Central Washington Hospital, and how to get there

The state hospital list names Confluence Health: Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, and CMS's hospital file gives the address as 1201 S. Miller Street. Link Transit's route 3 is labeled "CWH/ Saddle Rock Trailhead," and Link has gone zero-fare on every route, including its paratransit. If a disability makes the regular bus impossible, LinkPlus provides shared curb-to-curb rides; book at least a day ahead, and call Guest Services at 509-662-1155 to check whether your address is within three-quarters of a mile of a route. That matters if a plan change means a new clinic across town.

Help on both sides of the river

Statewide SHIBA: 800-562-6900, weekdays 8:30 to 4:30. Free, unbiased Medicare counseling from OIC's volunteer program.
Local SHIBA sponsor: Action Health Partners in East Wenatchee (888-452-0731). OIC's listing on October 26, 2026 said it is currently not taking appointments and sends callers to 1-800-MEDICARE.
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays.
Aging & Adult Care of Central Washington, the regional Area Agency on Aging, at 50 Simon St. SE in East Wenatchee. Community Living Connections: 509-886-0700.

Federal Medicare law and Washington's insurance code set these rules, and your plan's own notice governs your dates; check your specific situation with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent first.

Wenatchee readers ask

If I do nothing, will I have coverage in Wenatchee on January 1?

Yes, Original Medicare Parts A and B. You will not have drug coverage or a Medigap policy unless you sign up for them, except that CMS reassigns people with Extra Help to a drug plan.

Can I use the January to March Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment if I end up in Original Medicare?

No. That window is for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. If you were moved to Original Medicare, you have until February 28, 2027 to join a new Medicare Advantage plan.

Does a bus go to Central Washington Hospital?

Link Transit route 3 is labeled CWH/ Saddle Rock Trailhead, and Link says all its fixed route, DART and paratransit service is zero-fare.

Is there a Medicare count just for Wenatchee?

No. CMS reports by county. Chelan County had 20,308 people with Medicare in July 2026, 59.4% of them in Original Medicare.

Medicare plan leaving Wenatchee: what to do before January 1