Your Medicare plan is leaving Thurston County. Here is what to do before January.

In July 2026, 37,289 Thurston County residents were in Medicare Advantage and other health plans, according to CMS counts. That is 52.9% of the 70,541 people on Medicare here, a bigger slice than the statewide 49.7%, and only six of Washington's 39 counties had a higher share. So if a plan-ending letter showed up in your mailbox in Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm, Tenino, Rainier or Bucoda, plenty of your neighbors are reading the same kind of letter this fall.

The short version: the old plan pays through December 31, 2026. Whatever you pick by that date starts January 1, 2027. Because the plan is the one leaving, you also get a special enrollment period that runs from December 8 until February 28, 2027. The full statewide walkthrough is on our Washington plan-discontinued guide; this page sticks to what the Thurston numbers tell you.

The drug coverage is what disappears first

Here is the number I would look at twice. Of those 37,289 Thurston residents in Medicare Advantage and other plans, 35,472 got their Part D drug coverage inside that same plan. That works out to about 95%. When the plan goes, the prescriptions go with it.

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026 (people, not plans). "Medicare Advantage and other health plans" includes cost plans and PACE.

If you do nothing, Medicare moves you to Original Medicare on January 1. Your Part A and Part B keep working; you are not left uninsured. What you would not have is a drug plan, because Original Medicare doesn't add one for you. The one exception is people who get Extra Help: CMS reassigns them to a stand-alone Part D plan unless they already have one lined up for 2027.

Going without drug coverage carries a price beyond the pharmacy counter. Once you pass 63 days in a row with no Part D or other creditable drug coverage, Medicare can add a late enrollment penalty to your premium for as long as you have Part D. The math is 1% of the national base beneficiary premium, which CMS set at $41.33 for 2027, times each full month you went uncovered.

Example: a hypothetical retiree near Tumwater puts the letter in a drawer, lands in Original Medicare on New Year's Day, and finally picks a stand-alone drug plan on February 20. That plan starts March 1. January 1 through February 28 is 59 days, just under the penalty line, but it is still two months of paying full price for every refill. Picking by December 31 avoids the whole problem.

Two ways forward, decided by December 31

You can join a different Medicare Advantage plan offered where you live, or you can go to Original Medicare and add a stand-alone Part D plan, with a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy on top if you want one. I don't steer people either way. The trade is mostly networks and referrals on one side against monthly premiums for separate policies on the other.

If Original Medicare appeals to you, Washington gives you an unusually good door into Medigap. Under RCW 48.66.055, a plan leaving your area gives you guaranteed issue: an insurer can't turn you down or price you up for health reasons. OIC says to send the application no earlier than November 1, and the right lasts until 63 days after the old plan ends, which is March 4, 2027. Apply in November or December and the policy can begin January 1. The right only applies if you leave Medicare Advantage; joining another Medicare Advantage plan instead means you don't use it, and it lapses after March 4.

Four cities, one county

Thurston had an estimated 312,400 residents on April 1, 2026 (OFM), and about 63,800 were 65 or older in OFM's 2025 age estimates, roughly one in five. Most of the 65-plus crowd lives in or around the four largest cities:

Source: Washington OFM April 1, 2026 population estimates.

Medicare Plan Finder builds your list of 2027 options from the ZIP code you type in, so use your own, not your daughter's in Seattle. CMS counts enrollment only at the county level, which is why the city pages lean on these county figures too.

Hospitals and getting to a new doctor

Washington's Department of Health and CMS list three hospitals in Thurston County. Two are acute-care hospitals, both in Olympia. The third, South Sound Behavioral Hospital in Lacey, is a psychiatric hospital. For most people that means one practical check: if you are weighing another Medicare Advantage plan, confirm whether each Olympia hospital is in its 2027 network, along with your primary care clinic and any specialist you see in Tacoma or Seattle. Original Medicare works with any provider in the country that accepts Medicare, so the question there is simply whether the doctor takes Medicare.

Switching doctors is easier when you can get there. Intercity Transit runs its buses and its Dial-A-Lift paratransit without fares, a zero-fare program in place since January 1, 2020. Dial-A-Lift covers places within three-quarters of a mile of a regular bus route; call 360-754-9393 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to book. If you are 60 or older and the bus doesn't reach you, Senior Services for South Sound runs volunteer rides to appointments (360-586-6181, ext. 128) and asks for two weeks' notice.

Who to call in Thurston County

• SHIBA, the state's free Medicare counseling program. The local sponsor is Senior Services for South Sound, based at the Olympia Senior Center, 222 Columbia St. NW. When we checked on October 26, 2026, OIC's local office listing said: "Currently not accepting appointments. For assistance, call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227." The sponsor's own SHIBA page the same day said counselors were available by phone at 360-586-6181, ext. 134, with varying hours. Call before you go anywhere. The statewide SHIBA line is 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048) answers around the clock, except some federal holidays, and can enroll you over the phone.
• Lewis/Mason/Thurston Area Agency on Aging, 2404 Heritage Court SW in Olympia: 360-664-2168 or toll-free 888-545-0910. Community Living Connections statewide: 1-855-567-0252.

About 13% of Thurston's Medicare population, 9,441 people, also has Apple Health. If you don't have Apple Health but money is tight, look at a Medicare Savings Program through Washington Connection; HCA says these programs have no asset test. Dual-eligible people can also change stand-alone drug plans once a month. State and school retirees whose Medicare runs through PEBB should go through the Health Care Authority instead: PEBB retiree open enrollment is October 26 to November 23, 2026, and the number is 1-800-200-1004.

Your own plan letter sets your dates, and federal Medicare law and Washington statute set the rules above; before you change anything, check your situation with 1-800-MEDICARE, a SHIBA counselor or a licensed agent.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Lacey · Olympia · Tumwater · Yelm

Thurston County questions we hear

Sources

1. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
2. Washington OIC: Is your Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving?
3. Washington OIC: Find a local SHIBA office (checked Oct 26, 2026)
4. Senior Services for South Sound: SHIBA
5. Senior Services for South Sound: Transportation
6. Intercity Transit: Zero Fare
7. Intercity Transit: Dial-A-Lift service area and hours
8. Medicare.gov: Part D costs and late enrollment penalty
9. CMS CY 2027 MA and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance
10. RCW 48.66.055 (Medigap guaranteed issue)
11. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population estimates
12. WA DOH hospital data (HOFIDAR)