My Medicare Advantage Plan Is Ending on Bainbridge Island

More than a quarter of Bainbridge Island is 65 or older. The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey put it at about 27%, roughly 6,700 people, compared with about 20% across Kitsap County on the same survey. For anyone on the island who gets a letter saying "your Medicare Advantage plan will not be renewed," the question that follows is often less about price and more about which side of the water your doctors are on.

Example: a Winslow retiree with doctors on two shores

Example (hypothetical, not a real client): Ruth, 74, lives near Winslow. Her primary care doctor is on the island, her cardiologist practices in Seattle, and she fills prescriptions at a Bainbridge pharmacy. In early October her Medicare Advantage plan mailed the notice that it is ending December 31, 2026.

Ruth's first job is not shopping. It's writing down every provider she actually uses, on both sides of the Sound, plus every drug with its dose. Her second job is checking the calendar. Her plan keeps paying through December 31. If she lines up new coverage by that day, it starts January 1 with nothing missed.

Then she compares two kinds of coverage:

• A different Medicare Advantage plan. She'd need to confirm that both the island doctor and the Seattle cardiologist are in its 2027 network. Medicare Advantage plans can require network providers for non-emergency care, and her Seattle specialist sits in another county.
• Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan, and possibly a Medigap policy. Original Medicare works with any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, so the county line stops mattering. The cost question shifts to the Part D premium and whatever Medigap policy she picks.

Ruth's story is invented to show the steps. Your answer depends on your own doctors, drugs and budget.

The island next to the county

Sources: WA OFM; U.S. Census ACS 5-year table B09020; WA DOH hospital data; CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment (county-level only).

CMS doesn't break enrollment out by city, so the 40% share in Medicare Advantage and other health plans is a county figure. What is clearly local is the age profile. If you need to ask your doctors' offices which plans they take next year, call in November rather than mid-December.

No hospital on the island

The state's hospital data lists no hospital in the city of Bainbridge Island. The county's one listed hospital is St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale. Washington State Ferries runs the Seattle/Bainbridge Island route, and Kitsap Transit's route list includes buses between Bainbridge and Poulsbo (route 390) and Bainbridge and Silverdale (route 333). On those buses, Kitsap Transit's reduced fare is $1.00 one way if you show a Medicare card. Either way, whatever plan you land on should cover the hospital you would actually be taken to or choose, on whichever shore.

The rules in short

These apply to everyone in Washington whose plan is ending on December 31, 2026. The full Washington guide has more detail.

1. Your plan pays through December 31, 2026. Keep using it until then.
2. December 31 is the no-gap date. Choose by then and the new coverage begins January 1, 2027.
3. A plan-ending special enrollment period runs December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027. January choices start February 1; February choices start March 1.
4. If you do nothing, Medicare moves you to Original Medicare on January 1 with no Part D drug plan. If you get Extra Help, CMS reassigns you to a stand-alone drug plan instead.
5. Medigap without health questions. Washington's RCW 48.66.055 gives you a guaranteed issue right when your plan leaves, as long as you go to Original Medicare. OIC says to apply no earlier than November 1. The right ends 63 days after the plan does, on March 4, 2027. Hold on to the letter and the postmarked envelope as proof.

That Medigap point carries more weight for someone whose doctors are spread out. A Medigap policy pays its share for Medicare-covered care from any provider that takes Medicare, so it fits a two-shore pattern of care. You don't have to buy one; the point is that this is the window when an insurer can't turn you down for health reasons.

Who to call from the island

• SHIBA, the state's free and unbiased Medicare counseling program: statewide line 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Kitsap's local SHIBA sponsor, Peninsula Community Health Services in Bremerton, was listed on October 26, 2026 as "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227."
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays, and Medicare Plan Finder for comparing drug costs by ZIP code.
• Kitsap County Division of Aging and Long Term Care, the county's aging agency: 360-337-5700 or 1-800-562-6418. It lists offices in Poulsbo (at Fishline), Silverdale and Port Orchard.

The Kitsap County page covers the countywide numbers and the military retiree question.

Federal Medicare rules and Washington law govern everything above, and your plan's own notice sets your dates; before you switch, confirm the details with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Kitsap County · Bremerton · Port Orchard · Poulsbo

Island questions

Sources

1. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population
2. U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, table B09020
3. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
4. WA DOH hospital data (HOFIDAR)
5. Washington State Ferries schedules
6. Kitsap Transit fares and routes
7. WA OIC: Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving
8. WA OIC: Find a local SHIBA office
9. RCW 48.66.055
10. Medicare.gov special enrollment periods
11. Community Living Connections directory