Your Medicare plan is ending in Pierce County. Here is what to do before 2027.

CMS counted 176,141 people on Medicare in Pierce County in July 2026, and 91,398 of them were in Medicare Advantage and other health plans. That is 51.9%, a little above the statewide 49.7%. So if a plan-ending letter landed in your mailbox this fall, you belong to the larger half of the county's Medicare population.

The letter is not a cancellation of Medicare. It means one private plan will stop covering people here after December 31, 2026. Your Part A and Part B stay. What you need to replace is the plan wrapped around them, and in Pierce County the practical work is mostly about doctors, hospitals and prescriptions, because the county is big and care is clustered.

Pierce County's Medicare numbers next to the state

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026 (county and state rows). Counts are people, not plans. Percentages are my arithmetic from those counts.

Three of those rows matter for anyone holding a non-renewal letter.

The drug row. Of those 91,398 people in Medicare Advantage and other health plans, 86,770 get their Part D drug coverage through that same plan. That is about 95 out of every 100. When the plan ends, the drug coverage ends with it. Medicare will put you back in Original Medicare on January 1 if you do nothing, but it does not hand you a new drug plan. You have to pick one, unless you get Extra Help (more on that below).

The dual-eligible row. Almost 28,000 people in the county have both Medicare and Apple Health. If that's you, your rules are more flexible, and CMS steps in on drug coverage if you are on Extra Help. Don't let that make you passive, though; you still want to check that your doctors work with whatever you land in.

The disability row. 16,614 people here are on Medicare because of a disability, which usually means under 65. That group has the hardest time buying a Medigap policy, so the choice between another Medicare Advantage plan and Original Medicare carries more weight. Call SHIBA before deciding.

Where the hospitals are, and why it matters for your network check

Pierce County runs from the Puget Sound shoreline to the summit of Mount Rainier, about 1,668 square miles of land. The hospitals do not spread out the same way. On the Washington Department of Health and CMS lists, the county's hospitals sit in four cities:

• Tacoma: St. Joseph Medical Center, MultiCare Tacoma General/Allenmore Hospital, MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital and a rehabilitation hospital.
• Lakewood: St. Clare Hospital.
• Puyallup: MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital.
• Gig Harbor: St. Anthony Hospital.

CMS also lists Madigan, a Department of Defense hospital on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It isn't one you'd count when you're checking a civilian Medicare network.

Here is why that list matters. If you live in Bonney Lake, Sumner, Edgewood, DuPont or the rural south and east of the county, your nearest hospital is in another city. When you compare replacement Medicare Advantage plans, check that the specific hospital you'd actually be taken to, and the specialists you see there, are in the 2027 network. If you move to Original Medicare instead, you can use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, and the network question mostly goes away. That trade-off is the heart of the decision, and it looks different in Tacoma than it does in the foothills.

The four dates that run this decision

1. December 31, 2026. Your current plan pays claims through this day. Pick your replacement by this day and it starts January 1, 2027, with no break in coverage.
2. December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027. Your special enrollment period, which exists because the plan is leaving. It overlaps the regular Open Enrollment that runs until December 7, and then gives you extra time. Sign up in January, covered February 1; sign up in February, covered March 1.
3. January 1, 2027. If you haven't chosen, Medicare moves you to Original Medicare, with no drug plan and no supplement (unless you get Extra Help, in which case CMS assigns a drug plan). Pick Part D later and you have a hole in drug coverage; let it reach 63 days and a late penalty attaches to your premium for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage.
4. March 4, 2027. The last day of your Medigap guaranteed issue right: 63 days after the plan ends.

On that last one: because your plan is ending, Washington law (RCW 48.66.055) says Medigap insurers must sell you certain policies without health questions if you go to Original Medicare. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner advises applying no earlier than November 1. Apply between then and December 31 and the policy can start January 1. If you join another Medicare Advantage plan instead, you aren't using that right, and after March 4 it is gone. The full plan-letter lists and the reasoning are in my Washington guide for discontinued Medicare plans.

Getting help in Pierce County

The county's SHIBA sponsor is Sound Outreach, at 1116 S. 11th Street in Tacoma (253-593-2111). Be aware: when we checked OIC's local SHIBA listings on October 26, 2026, the Pierce listing said "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227." Every other county's listing said the same thing. The statewide SHIBA number still works: 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Medicare's own line, 1-800-633-4227, is staffed 24/7 apart from some federal holidays.

For the non-insurance side of a plan change, such as rides to a new clinic, caregiver support or applying for help with costs, call Pierce County Aging and Disability Resources, the local Area Agency on Aging. Its Community Living Connections line is 253-798-4600 (toll free 800-562-0332), with an office at 1501 Market St. in Tacoma. The county also keeps a list of senior centers, from the Bonney Lake Senior Center to the Gig Harbor Senior Center and the Mid-County Community Center in Tacoma.

Transportation is a real issue in a county this size. Pierce Transit says it covers 292 square miles of the county with roughly 70% of its population. If you're in the other 30%, a new doctor across the county is a bigger deal than it sounds, and SHUTTLE paratransit only runs inside the bus service area. Factor the drive into which clinics you keep.

If the plan change is going to cost you more

If you are moving to Original Medicare, the new bill can include a Part B premium you already pay, a Part D premium and maybe a Medigap premium. Two state and federal programs can soften that:

• Medicare Savings Programs through the Health Care Authority help pay Medicare premiums and, at the lowest income level, deductibles and copays. HCA says there's no asset test. Apply at washingtonconnection.org.
• Extra Help is the federal subsidy for drug plan costs. If you have it and your plan is ending, CMS reassigns you to a stand-alone drug plan unless you already have Part D lined up for 2027. You can still choose a different one.

Pages for Pierce County cities

Each city page looks at what's specific there: the hospital or lack of one, transit, and the age of the population. Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Bonney Lake, Edgewood, Gig Harbor, Fife, Sumner and DuPont.

Federal Medicare rules and Washington insurance law decide what applies here, and your plan's own letter sets your dates. If anything on this page doesn't match your situation, run it past SHIBA, a licensed agent or Medicare itself before switching.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Bonney Lake · DuPont · Edgewood · Fife · Gig Harbor · Lakewood · Puyallup · Sumner · Tacoma · University Place

Pierce County questions we hear about plan non-renewals

Sources

1. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
2. WA OIC: Is your Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving?
3. WA OIC: Find a local SHIBA office
4. CMS CY2027 MA and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance
5. RCW 48.66.055 (Medigap guaranteed issue)
6. WA DOH hospital financial data (HOFIDAR)
7. CMS Hospital General Information
8. Pierce County Senior Centers
9. Pierce Transit: About us
10. WA HCA: Medicare Savings Program
11. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population