Port Orchard is the Kitsap County seat, and the county's aging office keeps a door open on Sidney Avenue, in the Givens Community Center. If your Medicare Advantage plan has told you it's leaving after December 31, 2026, that office and two phone lines are where I'd start, before any plan comparison. The help is local, it's free, and it doesn't sell anything.
Start with the people down the street
Kitsap County Division of Aging and Long Term Care. This is Kitsap's Area Agency on Aging and its Community Living Connections contact. The Port Orchard office is at 1026 Sidney Ave., Suite 105, inside the Givens Community Center. Phone 360-337-5700, toll-free 1-800-562-6418. The state's Community Living Connections directory also lists Kitsap offices in Silverdale and Poulsbo that double as caregiver support centers.
SHIBA. Washington's Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors give free, unbiased Medicare counseling. Kitsap's local SHIBA sponsor is Peninsula Community Health Services in Bremerton, but OIC's listing on October 26, 2026 said, "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227." The statewide SHIBA line was still listed: 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048) answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays, and Medicare Plan Finder shows 2027 drug costs for your ZIP code once you enter your prescriptions.
Getting around: Kitsap Transit charges $1.00 one way on routed buses and local foot ferries to riders who show a Medicare card. The Port Orchard foot ferry runs to Bremerton seven days a week. ACCESS paratransit is there for seniors and people with disabilities who can't ride the regular buses; once approved, you book 1 to 7 days ahead at 360-479-7272.
Port Orchard by the numbers
- Population (OFM, April 1, 2026)
- 20,500
- Residents 65 and older (ACS 2020–2024)
- about 2,700, or roughly 16% (margin of error ±436 people)
- Kitsap County residents 65+ on the same survey
- 54,611, about 20%
- People with Medicare in Kitsap County (CMS, July 2026)
- 67,198
- Of those, in Medicare Advantage and other health plans
- 27,016 (40.2%)
- Kitsap residents with no Medicare drug plan in July
- about 19,000 (67,198 minus 48,186 with Part D)
- Hospital inside city limits (DOH data)
- None listed; the county's listed hospital is in Silverdale
Sources: WA OFM; U.S. Census ACS 5-year table B09020; CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment (county only, counts are people); WA DOH hospital data.
Port Orchard's older population is a bit smaller as a share than the county's, but the county numbers are what describe the Medicare market here, since CMS doesn't report cities. About 2 in 5 Kitsap beneficiaries were in Medicare Advantage and other plans in July.
The cost of doing nothing, worked out
I'm going to spend most of the rules section on one scenario, because it is the one that catches people.
Say you set the letter aside and don't choose anything. On January 1, 2027, Medicare places you in Original Medicare. You keep Part A and Part B. Your old plan's drug coverage is gone, though, and Original Medicare doesn't come with a drug plan. Unless you get Extra Help (in which case CMS reassigns you to a stand-alone Part D plan), you are now without drug coverage.
The plan-ending special enrollment period, which opens December 8, gives you until February 28, 2027 to fix it. Here's how the timing plays out:
- Join a Part D plan in December: it starts January 1. No gap.
- Join in January: it starts February 1. You pay full price at the pharmacy for January.
- Join in February: it starts March 1. That's January and February uncovered, 59 days. That stays under the 63-day line that triggers the Part D late enrollment penalty, but it's two months of paying retail for every prescription.
If you let it run past 63 days without creditable drug coverage, Medicare adds a penalty of 1% of the national base beneficiary premium ($41.33 in 2027) for each full month you went without, and you pay it for as long as you have Part D. People with Extra Help don't pay the penalty.
The lesson is boring and true: make the call by December 31.
What you're actually choosing between
One road is a different Medicare Advantage plan offered in Kitsap; OIC says every Washington county has at least one for 2027. Check that your doctors and pharmacy are in its 2027 network. The other road is Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan, plus a Medigap policy if you want one.
On that second road you have a Washington guaranteed issue right under RCW 48.66.055. Medigap insurers must sell you certain plans without health questions. OIC says to send the application no earlier than November 1; apply by December 31 and the policy can start January 1. The right runs out March 4, 2027. Save the plan's letter and its envelope as proof. The Washington plan-discontinued guide has the plan letters you qualify for.
Neighbors across the water can use the Bremerton page, and the Kitsap County page covers the countywide picture.
What's written here reflects federal Medicare rules and Washington law as of October 26, 2026; your own plan's notices control your dates, and SHIBA, 1-800-MEDICARE or a licensed agent can confirm how they apply to you.
Port Orchard questions
Where can I get in-person Medicare help in Port Orchard?
What happens if I ignore my plan's letter?
How does the Part D late penalty work?
Is there a hospital in Port Orchard?
Sources
- Community Living Connections county directory
- WA OIC: Find a local SHIBA office
- WA OIC: Get free Medicare help from SHIBA
- Kitsap Transit fares
- Kitsap Transit foot ferries
- Kitsap Transit ACCESS
- WA OFM April 1, 2026 population
- U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, table B09020
- CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
- Medicare.gov Part D costs
- CMS CY2027 enrollment guidance
- RCW 48.66.055
- WA DES Kitsap County profile (county seat)
