Your Medicare plan is leaving Sedro-Woolley: what to do before January

Sedro-Woolley is where the Skagit Valley starts turning into mountains. Its hospital on Hospital Drive is the one CMS lists as a critical access hospital, and of the county's three listed hospitals it is the one nearest the upper-valley towns along State Route 20, from Lyman and Hamilton to Concrete and Marblemount. That's the first thing to protect if your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving: whatever replaces it should let you use that hospital without a fight.

Your dates, laid out

Sources: CMS CY2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance; WA OIC; RCW 48.66.055. Dates assume your letter gives a December 31, 2026 end date.

Two windows people mix up

It's easy to mix these up because two different January-to-March rules exist, and they don't apply to the same people.

The plan-ending special enrollment period (December 8 to February 28) belongs to you because your plan is leaving. It works whether you end up in a new private plan or in Original Medicare. Use it in January and coverage starts February 1; in February, March 1.

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31) is a separate, one-time change for people who are in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1. If you join a new plan for January and hate it by February, this is your do-over. But if you did nothing and Medicare placed you in Original Medicare, this window isn't yours. Your last day to join a Medicare Advantage plan is February 28.

Neither window helps your drug coverage if you let it lapse. Original Medicare doesn't come with Part D, so if you take that road, join a stand-alone drug plan by December 31. Gaps of 63 days or longer without creditable drug coverage can bring a Part D penalty that sticks for as long as you carry drug coverage.

Sedro-Woolley by the numbers

Sources: WA OFM; U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B09020; CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026.

The city itself is one of the younger places in the county. The rural area around it is a different story. If you live east of town, your doctors may be in Sedro-Woolley, your specialists in Mount Vernon (about 7.5 miles away in a straight line, farther by road), and your hospital choice depends on which way the ambulance turns.

Network check, or no network at all

With another Medicare Advantage plan, call the Sedro-Woolley hospital, your primary care office and each specialist and ask a plain question: "Will you be in this plan's network for 2027?" Get a name. A plan built around a different hospital system can treat the nearest hospital as out of network for planned follow-up care, which matters more out here than in town.

With Original Medicare, you can go to any doctor or hospital in the country that takes Medicare, with no referrals in most cases. What you lose is the yearly out-of-pocket limit that Medicare Advantage plans carry. A Medigap policy fills much of that gap, and right now you can buy one without health questions under Washington's guaranteed issue law (RCW 48.66.055), provided you move to Original Medicare. The OIC says to apply from November 1 on. Keep your plan's letter and envelope as proof.

Getting to appointments

Skagit Transit runs the 300 loop in town, the 301 to Burlington, the 305 toward Clear Lake and Skagit Valley College, and the 70X between Concrete and Mount Vernon. A Medicare card gets you a free Reduced Fare Permit. If a disability keeps you off the regular bus, Skagit Transit paratransit covers eligible riders living within three-quarters of a mile of a bus route; call (360) 757-4433, option 2, to schedule. Expect a decision within 21 days of a complete application, so apply early if a plan change means a new clinic.

Who to call

• Sedro-Woolley Senior Center, 715 Pacific Street, 360-855-1531, weekdays 8 to 4. Skagit County Public Health runs it with the city.
• SHIBA statewide: 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. OIC's local SHIBA listings said they weren't accepting appointments when we looked on October 26, 2026, so don't count on a walk-in.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and Medicare Plan Finder.
• Northwest Regional Council, Skagit office, 360.428.1301, for help with costs and in-home support.

Our Washington page on discontinued Medicare plans has the full rules, and the Skagit County page compares the county's three hospital towns.

Washington law and federal Medicare rules govern all of this, but the date on your own plan notice is the one that counts; verify it with SHIBA, 1-800-MEDICARE or a licensed agent first.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Skagit County · Anacortes · Burlington · Mount Vernon

Sedro-Woolley FAQ

Sources

1. CMS Hospital General Information
2. CMS CY2027 MA and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance
3. WA OIC: Is your Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving?
4. RCW 48.66.055
5. Medicare.gov: Part D late enrollment penalty
6. U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024, table B09020
7. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population estimates
8. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
9. Skagit Transit paratransit
10. Sedro-Woolley Senior Center newsletter (Skagit County)