Medicare plan not renewing in Lacey: a date-by-date plan

Lacey is Thurston County's largest city: 60,720 residents on April 1, 2026, a little ahead of Olympia's 58,630, by OFM's count. Roughly 11,300 Lacey residents are 65 or older (Census ACS 2020 to 2024, margin of plus or minus 739). If your Medicare Advantage plan sent a non-renewal letter this fall, the date to circle is Thursday, December 31, 2026. That is the plan's last day, and it is also the last day to pick something new without a single day uncovered.

Sources: WA OFM; U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B09020; CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026 (county level only).

CMS doesn't break enrollment down below the county. Lacey's 65-plus share sits right about where the county's does. If you assume Lacey looks like Thurston as a whole (an assumption, not a CMS figure), a little over half of people on Medicare here would be in Medicare Advantage and other health plans.

A Lacey walk-through, date by date

Example (hypothetical): Dee is 71, lives off Pacific Avenue SE, and her Medicare Advantage plan wrote in early October to say it won't be offered here in 2027. Here is how her calendar plays out.

1. Late October. She keeps the letter and the postmarked envelope together. If she later buys a Medigap policy, the insurer can ask for proof that her plan ended.
2. Before Thanksgiving. She writes down her doctors and every prescription with its dose, then enters them in Medicare Plan Finder using her Lacey ZIP code.
3. November 1 or later. Leaning toward Original Medicare, she applies for a Medigap policy. OIC tells people with these letters to apply on or after November 1. Washington's RCW 48.66.055 makes the insurer accept her without health questions, and the policy can't start until her old plan stops, so she asks for a January 1 start.
4. December 7. Regular open enrollment closes. Dee isn't locked out, because her plan's exit gives her a separate window beginning December 8.
5. By December 31. She has a stand-alone Part D drug plan picked. Anything chosen by this date begins January 1.

Suppose Dee had chosen another Medicare Advantage plan instead. Same deadline, same January 1 start, and she would also get one more switch between January 1 and March 31 if the new plan disappointed her. What she would give up is the Medigap guaranteed-issue right, which only helps people who move to Original Medicare and runs out on March 4, 2027.

And if she did nothing at all? Medicare would place her in Original Medicare on January 1 with no drug plan, unless she gets Extra Help. She could still pick plans through February 28, 2027, but a January choice wouldn't begin until February 1, and a February choice not until March 1. The statewide guide covers the late-penalty math in detail.

The hospital in Lacey is a psychiatric hospital

State and federal hospital lists show one hospital with a Lacey address: South Sound Behavioral Hospital on Woodland Square Loop SE, which CMS classifies as psychiatric. The county's two acute-care hospitals on those lists are in Olympia. So when you compare Medicare Advantage options, check both Olympia hospitals in each plan's 2027 network, not just your Lacey clinic. If you see a behavioral health provider, check that too. Under Original Medicare, the only question is whether the provider takes Medicare.

Getting help without leaving Lacey

The Virgil Clarkson Lacey Senior Center at 6757 Pacific Avenue SE (360-407-3967) is one of two centers run by Senior Services for South Sound, the nonprofit that sponsors the state's SHIBA Medicare counseling in Thurston County. SHIBA itself is based at the Olympia Senior Center. On October 26, 2026, the OIC listing for this sponsor said it was not taking appointments and pointed people to 1-800-633-4227, while the sponsor's own SHIBA page said phone counselors could be reached at 360-586-6181, ext. 134. Try that number, or the statewide SHIBA line at 800-562-6900 (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). Medicare's own line runs 24 hours a day, every day except some federal holidays.

Need to get to a new doctor? Intercity Transit doesn't charge fares on its buses or on Dial-A-Lift. Route 610 is the Lacey Connector, Route 70 links Lacey and Tumwater, and Route 90 runs out to Yelm. Dial-A-Lift reservations: 360-754-9393.

Lacey residents with limited income can apply for a Medicare Savings Program at washingtonconnection.org, and anyone with Medicaid, a Savings Program or SSI qualifies for Extra Help automatically. For county-wide numbers and the drug-coverage picture, see the Thurston County page.

None of this replaces the notice your plan mailed you or the federal and Washington rules behind it; if anything here doesn't match your situation, confirm with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent before you act.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Thurston County · Olympia · Tumwater · Yelm

Lacey questions

Sources

1. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population estimates
2. U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, table B09020
3. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
4. CMS Hospital General Information
5. Washington OIC: Is your Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving?
6. Washington OIC: Find a local SHIBA office (checked Oct 26, 2026)
7. Senior Services for South Sound: locations
8. Senior Services for South Sound: SHIBA
9. Intercity Transit: routes
10. RCW 48.66.055
11. CMS CY 2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance