Medicare Advantage Plan Discontinued in Clallam County

More than a third of Clallam County's residents are 65 or older: 28,395 people, or 36.1%, in OFM's April 2025 estimate. Yet only about a quarter of the county's Medicare enrollees use a Medicare Advantage or other private health plan. In July 2026, CMS counted 29,910 people on Medicare here, and 7,127 of them (23.8%) were in those plans. If a letter told you yours is ending after December 31, 2026, you're part of that smaller group, spread from Sequim to Port Angeles to Forks.

Clallam County's Medicare mix

CMS counts, July 2026	Clallam County	Washington
Total Medicare beneficiaries	29,910	1,586,306
Original Medicare	22,783 (76.2%)	50.3%
Medicare Advantage and other private health plans	7,127 (23.8%)	49.7%
Separate Part D drug plan	16,446	503,353
Drugs covered inside a private health plan	6,563	752,773
Under-65, on Medicare due to disability	1,878 (6.3%)	8.0%
Medicare plus Apple Health	3,383 (11.3%)	15.1%

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026. Counts are people, not plans; the private-plan line includes cost plans and PACE. The disability line counts people whose Medicare entitlement is based on disability.

Read that table one way: three out of four people on Medicare in Clallam County already live with Original Medicare, and 16,446 of them buy a separate drug plan. Read it another way: the 6,563 people whose drug coverage is wrapped into a private plan are the ones who need to act before New Year's if their plan is the one ending, because a plan that ends takes its prescription benefit with it.

East end, west end, and the water

Clallam is a long county. It has 1,739 square miles of land and another 930 square miles of water along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and it touches only two Washington counties by Census definitions, Jefferson and San Juan. Care is spread out to match. The Department of Health lists two hospitals:

Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, an acute care hospital on Caroline Street.
Forks Community Hospital in Forks, a critical access hospital (a federal designation for small rural hospitals).

If you live on the west end, ask any Medicare Advantage plan you're considering whether Forks Community Hospital and your local clinic are in its 2027 network. If you live around Sequim or Port Angeles, ask about Olympic Medical Center and your specialists. And if any of your specialists are across Puget Sound, put them on the list too; a network that looks fine for Port Angeles may not reach Seattle.

Getting across the water is a real trip. Clallam Transit's Route 123, the Strait Shot, runs weekdays from the Gateway Transit Center in Port Angeles through Sequim to the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal; the morning bus is scheduled at 7:25 a.m. and reaches the ferry at 9:25. It's $10, or $5 with a Regional Reduced Fare Permit, which Clallam Transit issues to riders 65 and over and people with disabilities. Clallam Transit's other routes are zero-fare until further notice.

Original Medicare doesn't use networks: any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare will do. In a county this spread out, weigh that flexibility against the cost side: Original Medicare leaves cost-sharing to you unless you add a supplement, while a Medicare Advantage plan may limit care to its network.

If you're under 65 and on Medicare

Clallam has 1,878 people on Medicare because of a disability. If that's you, the Medigap part of this decision works differently, and you should get advice before you drop anything.

Federal law generally doesn't require insurers to sell Medigap policies to people under 65, and Washington isn't on the CMS list of states that require it. Washington's guaranteed issue statute for plans that end, RCW 48.66.055, doesn't set an age limit, but an insurer only has to offer policies it currently makes available to new enrollees, and OIC's approved-plan list shows under-65 rates for some insurers and not others. OIC itself says options are more limited for people under 65 on Medicare due to disability. In practice: call SHIBA at 800-562-6900 before you assume a supplement is available to you, and remember that you get a fresh Medigap open enrollment period when you turn 65.

Was this your first Medicare Advantage plan?

If you joined this plan when you first became eligible for Part A at 65 and you're still within the first year, or you dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time less than a year ago, you may also have a "trial right" to buy Medigap. It can open more options than the plan-ending right alone. Ask SHIBA or Medicare to confirm it applies before you count on it.

The dates everyone in Clallam shares

None of the federal timing changes because you live on the Olympic Peninsula:

Coverage under your current plan lasts through December 31, 2026.
Make your choice by that day and new coverage begins January 1, 2027, without a break.
You have a special enrollment period from December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027 because of the plan ending. January choices start February 1; February choices start March 1.
Choose nothing and you're in Original Medicare January 1, without a drug plan. Extra Help recipients are the exception: CMS assigns them a stand-alone Part D plan.
Move to Original Medicare and Washington gives you a guaranteed right to buy certain Medigap policies (with the under-65 caveats above). OIC says to apply on or after November 1, and the right ends March 4, 2027.

The full Washington guide for discontinued Medicare plans lays out each rule with its source.

Local help, and what's open right now

SHIBA's sponsor in Clallam County is Aging & Adult Services of Coastal Washington (formerly Olympic Area Agency on Aging), with listed sites at 481 5th Avenue in Forks and 609 W. Washington St., Ste. 16, in Sequim, and a phone line at 360-209-8338 (their SHIBA page). When I checked OIC's listings on October 26, 2026, both Clallam sites were marked as not accepting appointments, directing people to 1-800-MEDICARE. Your phone options:

SHIBA statewide: 800-562-6900, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Medicare: 1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048, 24 hours a day, except some federal holidays.
Community Living Connections through the same agency: Forks office 360-374-9496, Sequim office 360-452-3221, for benefits and long-term care services.

If a new plan means new appointments and you can't use a regular bus, Clallam Connect is Clallam Transit's door-to-door paratransit for older and disabled residents. Anyone 80 or older qualifies automatically after filling out the application (no medical form needed). Reservations: 360-452-4511, option 1.

Your plan's notice sets your personal dates, while federal Medicare rules and Washington law set everything around them; confirm your own case with Medicare, SHIBA or a licensed agent.

Clallam County questions

I live in Forks. What should I check before picking a new plan?

Whether Forks Community Hospital, your clinic and any specialists you see in Port Angeles or across the Sound are in the plan's 2027 network. Original Medicare doesn't use networks; any provider who accepts Medicare works.

I'm under 65 on Medicare due to disability. Can I get a Medigap policy when my plan ends?

Possibly, but don't count on it yet. The state statute doesn't exclude people under 65, though an insurer is only obliged to offer what it already sells to new customers in that age group, and OIC warns choices are narrower. Ask SHIBA (800-562-6900) before dropping anything.

Are the SHIBA offices in Sequim and Forks seeing people?

On October 26, 2026, OIC's listings showed both as not accepting appointments and pointed callers to 1-800-MEDICARE. SHIBA's statewide line, 800-562-6900, was still listed.

How do I get to a Seattle-area specialist without driving?

Clallam Transit's Route 123 Strait Shot runs weekdays from Port Angeles to the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal for $10, or $5 with a Regional Reduced Fare Permit for riders 65 and older or with disabilities.

Your Medicare Advantage plan is being discontinued in Clallam County