Spokane County Medicare Advantage Plan Leaving in 2027

More than half of Spokane County's Medicare population is in Medicare Advantage and other health plans

CMS counts, July 2026: 123,249 people with Medicare live in Spokane County, and 70,420 of them (57.1%) were enrolled in Medicare Advantage and other health plans. That CMS category also takes in cost plans and PACE, so it is a little wider than Medicare Advantage alone. Statewide the figure is 49.7%.

Why should a Spokane reader care about a percentage? Because it tells you that plan-based coverage is the more common setup here. This page does not track which plans are leaving or how many members each one had, and you shouldn't guess from the totals. If a letter came to your house, start early.

CMS count, July 2026	Spokane County	Washington
People with Medicare	123,249	1,586,306
Medicare Advantage and other health plans	70,420 (57.1%)	788,606 (49.7%)
Original Medicare	52,829 (42.9%)	797,700 (50.3%)
Dual-eligible (Medicare and Apple Health)	21,489 (17.4%)	239,101 (15.1%)
On Medicare because of a disability	13,749 (11.2%)	127,500 (8.0%)
Part D drug coverage inside a private health plan	66,312	752,773
Stand-alone Part D plan	32,735	503,353

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026. Percentages are shares of all people with Medicare, computed from the CMS counts.

The 66,312 figure is the one to worry about

Roughly two of every three Spokane County residents with Part D get it bundled into a private health plan. When that plan ends on December 31, the drug coverage ends with it. Nothing replaces it by itself if you land in Original Medicare. The one exception is Extra Help: CMS assigns people who get it to a stand-alone drug plan unless they already have Part D for 2027.

Two costs follow from a gap. The obvious one is paying full price at the pharmacy in January. The quieter one is the Part D late enrollment penalty, which Medicare can add if you go 63 days or more in a row without drug coverage that counts. It works out to 1% of the national base beneficiary premium ($41.33 for 2027) for each uncovered month, and it stays on your premium for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage. On paper, a drug plan picked in February starts March 1 and leaves a 59-day hole, which stays under the 63-day line. I wouldn't build a plan around that. Pick drug coverage that starts January 1.

Hospitals, the Idaho line and network checks

The state and federal hospital lists show nine hospitals in Spokane County: seven with Spokane addresses, MultiCare Valley Hospital in Spokane Valley, and Eastern State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Medical Lake. The general acute-care ones include MultiCare Deaconess Hospital, two large hospitals in Spokane that belong to a regional health system, MultiCare Valley Hospital and the Spokane VA Medical Center. The rest are specialty hospitals (children's, behavioral health and rehab).

Spokane County also shares a border with three Idaho counties: Kootenai, Bonner and Benewah. If any part of your care happens on the Idaho side, your Medicare choice has to account for it. A Medicare Advantage plan may require you to use providers in its network and service area for anything that isn't an emergency, so if any of your doctors practice in Idaho, look each one up in the 2027 network of every plan you consider. Original Medicare works with any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, Idaho included, but it has no yearly cap on your share of costs unless you add something like a Medigap policy.

What federal rules and Washington law give you

These apply in every county, so here is the compressed version. The statewide guide to a discontinued Medicare plan has the detail.

Your plan pays through December 31, 2026. Keep seeing your doctors and filling prescriptions as usual until then.
Two windows back to back. Fall Open Enrollment closes December 7. Your plan-ending special enrollment period starts December 8 and stays open until February 28, 2027. A decision made by December 31 starts January 1. One made in January starts February 1; one made in February starts March 1.
The default is Original Medicare. If you choose nothing, you are moved to Parts A and B on January 1 with no drug plan (unless you get Extra Help) and no supplement attached.
Medigap without health questions. Washington's RCW 48.66.055 lets you buy certain Medigap plans with guaranteed issue when your Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area. If you were first eligible for Medicare before 2020, that means Plans A through F (including high-deductible F), K or L. If you were first eligible on or after January 1, 2020, the menu is A, B, D, G (including high-deductible G), K or L. OIC says to apply no earlier than November 1. The right runs out 63 days after the plan ends, which is March 4, 2027, and it only applies if you go to Original Medicare instead of joining another Medicare Advantage plan.

Keep the letter and the envelope it came in. A Medigap insurer can ask for proof of when your coverage ended.

21,489 people here have both Medicare and Apple Health

Spokane County's dual-eligible share, 17.4%, is above the state's 15.1%. Of those 21,489 people, 13,167 have full Apple Health benefits and 8,322 have partial benefits, usually help with Medicare premiums or cost-sharing. If that's you, you have more room to fix a mistake than most people. With Medicaid or Extra Help you can move to a different stand-alone Part D plan once a calendar month, effective the first of the next month. With full benefits, you can also join or switch to an integrated plan for dual eligibles (Washington calls these Apple Health Medicare Connect) once a month where one is offered.

If you are close to qualifying but not enrolled, look at the Medicare Savings Programs. HCA says there is no asset test, and you can apply at washingtonconnection.org.

The disability number matters too. 13,749 Spokane County residents are on Medicare because of a disability, a bigger slice than statewide. Under 65, buying a Medigap policy is harder: federal law mostly leaves insurers free to turn down applicants younger than 65, and the CMS Medigap guide doesn't name Washington among the states that require sales to them. Call SHIBA before you drop a private plan for Original Medicare on the assumption that a supplement will be available.

Who to call in Spokane County

Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington (ALTCEW) is both the local SHIBA sponsor and the Area Agency on Aging for Spokane, Stevens, Whitman, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties. SHIBA line 509-625-4801, email [email protected], 1313 N Atlantic St. in Spokane. When we checked OIC's local SHIBA listings on October 26, 2026, this one said: "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227."
Statewide SHIBA: 800-562-6900, answered weekdays between 8:30 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon. OIC says its volunteers give free, unbiased and confidential help.
Medicare's national line, 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048), open around the clock except on some federal holidays, and Medicare Plan Finder for comparing 2027 options with your own drug list.
Community Living Connections through ALTCEW: 509-960-7281.
Rides to a new doctor. Spokane Transit's Honored Rider card cuts fares in half for people 60 and older, and a Medicare card is accepted as proof; the reduced fare is $1 against the $2 standard fare. STA's paratransit serves a corridor three-quarters of a mile around each fixed route, covering most of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Airway Heights, Liberty Lake, Medical Lake and Millwood. Applications go through 509-328-1552, and STA decides within 21 days of a complete application.

City pages in Spokane County

The county's five cities over 10,000 people hold about 386,760 of its 570,600 residents (OFM, April 1, 2026), roughly 68%. Each has its own page with city numbers: Spokane (235,900), Spokane Valley (110,800), Liberty Lake (14,790), Cheney (13,130) and Airway Heights (12,140). OFM counted 111,803 county residents age 65 and older in 2025, about one in five.

Federal Medicare rules and Washington law decide how all of this works, and the dates printed in your own plan's notice are the ones that apply to you, so check your situation with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent before you switch.

Spokane County questions we hear about plans ending

My plan is leaving Spokane County but not Medicare. Do I get the same rights?

Yes. Under CMS guidance, a plan that cuts your county out of its service area counts the same as a plan exiting Medicare entirely. You get the special enrollment period from December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027, and Washington's Medigap guaranteed issue right if you move to Original Medicare.

I see a doctor in Kootenai County, Idaho. What should I check?

If you are looking at another Medicare Advantage plan, confirm that doctor is in the plan's 2027 network, because plans may require network providers for non-emergency care. Original Medicare lets you use any provider in the U.S. that accepts Medicare.

Is the Spokane SHIBA office taking appointments?

On October 26, 2026, OIC's listing for the Spokane County sponsor, Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, carried a note that it wasn't booking appointments and sent callers to Medicare's national number. SHIBA's statewide number, 800-562-6900, was still posted.

Can I wait until February to decide?

You can, because the special enrollment period runs through February 28, 2027, but a February choice doesn't start until March 1. Choosing by December 31 is the only way to avoid a gap in drug coverage and supplemental coverage.

Medicare Advantage plan terminated in Spokane County: what to do before December 31