Medicare Advantage Plan Ending in Spokane Valley, WA

Spokane Valley has been a city only since March 31, 2003, but it is now the second-largest city in Spokane County, with 110,800 residents by OFM's April 2026 count. Its older population is large too, and Medicare Advantage is common in this county. Here is what to do with it, using one made-up resident to show the steps.

Spokane Valley at a glance

	Spokane Valley	Spokane County
Population, April 1, 2026 (OFM)	110,800	570,600
Age 65 and older (ACS 2020–2024)	18,679 (±804)	95,527
Share 65 and older (ACS)	17.6%	17.4%
People with Medicare (CMS, July 2026)	not published by city	123,249
In Medicare Advantage and other health plans	not published by city	70,420 (57.1%)
Hospital in the city	MultiCare Valley Hospital, E. Mission Ave.	9 on state and federal lists

Sources: OFM, Census ACS table B09020, CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment (county level only), WA DOH and CMS hospital files.

About one in five of the county's 65-and-older residents lives in Spokane Valley. Since CMS counts Medicare enrollment by county, the 57.1% share in Medicare Advantage and other health plans is the closest figure we have for the Valley too, and it is well above Washington's 49.7%.

Example: one Valley resident's fall, step by step

Example: Linda is 71, lives a few minutes from MultiCare Valley Hospital, and has been in the same Medicare Advantage plan since she turned 65. In early October she gets a letter saying the plan won't be offered in Spokane County in 2027. (Linda is invented to show the steps. She is not a real client.)

Step 1: She reads the end date and keeps the envelope. Her plan pays through December 31, 2026. She files the letter with its postmark, because a Medigap insurer can ask for it later as proof of when her coverage ended.

Step 2: She writes down what she can't lose. Her primary care doctor, a cardiologist she sees twice a year, the hospital on Mission, the pharmacy she uses, and her four prescriptions with doses.

Step 3: She looks at both roads, not just one. On Medicare Plan Finder she enters her drugs and pharmacy and looks at 2027 Medicare Advantage options in her ZIP code, checking each doctor in each plan's network. Then she prices the other road: Original Medicare plus a stand-alone Part D plan, with or without a Medigap policy.

Step 4: She understands the one-time door. Because her plan is leaving the county, Washington law gives her a guaranteed issue right to a Medigap policy. If she goes to Original Medicare, an insurer has to sell her one of the eligible plans without health questions and can't charge more for her health history. If she joins another Medicare Advantage plan instead, she doesn't use that right, and it expires 63 days after December 31.

Step 5: She decides before Christmas, not in February. Whichever road she picks, she signs up by December 31 so everything starts January 1. If she goes the Medigap route, she applies in November or December, since OIC tells people to apply no earlier than November 1.

That's the whole job. The decision itself is personal; Linda's could go either way depending on her doctors, her drugs and how she feels about networks versus a monthly supplement premium. Nobody should push you down one road.

The Medigap window, in plain terms

RCW 48.66.055, the Washington statute behind this right, reaches further than federal law does. The plan letters you can buy without underwriting depend on when you were first eligible for Medicare:

First eligible before January 1, 2020: Plans A through F (including high-deductible F), K or L.
First eligible on or after January 1, 2020: Plans A, B, D, G (including high-deductible G), K or L.

The right starts the day the termination notice reaches you and runs until March 4, 2027 when the plan's last day is December 31. You may apply early, and the insurer must take that application, though coverage begins only once the old plan is gone. Insurers are obliged to offer only the policies they are selling to new buyers at the time. Under 65 on Medicare because of a disability? Your options are narrower; call SHIBA before you count on a supplement. Fuller detail is in our Washington guide to a discontinued Medicare plan.

The rest of the calendar

Open Enrollment ends December 7. Your special enrollment period for a plan that's ending begins December 8 and closes February 28, 2027; signing up in January means a February 1 start, and in February a March 1 start. Do nothing and January 1 finds you in Original Medicare with no drug plan; only people with Extra Help get one assigned by CMS. Go 63 straight days without drug coverage that counts as creditable and a Part D late penalty can follow, added for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage.

Help close to home

The Spokane Valley Senior Center is in the east wing of CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N Discovery Place (509-926-1937). The city runs it in partnership with the Spokane Valley Senior Citizens Association for people 50 and older. It is a social and activity center, not a Medicare counseling office.

For Medicare counseling itself: the area's SHIBA sponsor is Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington in Spokane (509-625-4801). OIC's listing for that office read "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227" when we checked on October 26, 2026. SHIBA's statewide number, 800-562-6900, was still answering weekdays from 8:30 to 4:30. Spokane Transit's half-price Honored Rider fare for riders 60 and up, and its paratransit service, both reach most of Spokane Valley if your new doctor is across town.

Federal Medicare rules and Washington law govern everything above, and the dates in your own plan's letter are what count for you; run your situation past SHIBA, a licensed agent or 1-800-MEDICARE first.

Spokane Valley follow-up questions

Is MultiCare Valley Hospital affected when a Medicare Advantage plan leaves Spokane County?

A plan leaving doesn't change the hospital's own Medicare participation. What changes for you is whether your 2027 coverage treats it as in-network. Check it by name in any Medicare Advantage plan you consider. Original Medicare covers any hospital that accepts Medicare.

My Medicare Advantage plan is ending. Can I still buy a Medigap policy in Spokane Valley without health questions?

Yes, as long as you switch to Original Medicare rather than another private plan. The state right lasts through March 4, 2027 when a plan stops on December 31, and OIC's advice is to send the application on or after November 1.

What if I already joined a new Medicare Advantage plan for January and regret it?

If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you can make one change during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 to March 31, 2027. The Medigap guaranteed issue right tied to your old plan still ends March 4, 2027.

My Medicare Advantage plan is ending in Spokane Valley. Now what?