Medicare Plan Discontinued in College Place, WA: 2027

College Place has no hospital inside its city limits. For a resident whose Medicare Advantage plan ends on December 31, 2026, that one fact shapes the whole comparison: the county's only licensed hospital is next door in Walla Walla, and if you see specialists in the Tri-Cities, that's one more set of offices to check. Whatever you pick for 2027 has to work with care that happens outside town. The questions below run in roughly the order they come up.

How many people in College Place does this touch?

CMS doesn't publish Medicare enrollment by city, but the county numbers frame it. In July 2026, Walla Walla County had 15,018 people on Medicare, and 4,996 of them (33%) were in Medicare Advantage or other private health plans. The rest used Original Medicare.

Measure	College Place	Walla Walla County
Residents, April 1, 2026 (OFM)	10,090	64,100
Residents 65 and older (ACS 2020–2024)	about 2,080 (±302)	12,409
65+ as a share of residents (ACS)	about 21%	20.0%
Licensed hospitals (DOH)	none in the city	1, in Walla Walla
Medicare members whose drug coverage sits inside a private plan (CMS)	not published by city	4,620

Sources: WA OFM April 1, 2026 estimates; U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024 5-year, table B09020 (±302 is the 90% margin of error); WA DOH hospital list; CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026.

The 65-and-older share in College Place runs about even with the county's. The number to pay attention to is the last row: across the county, 4,620 people get prescriptions through their Medicare Advantage plan. If yours is one of the plans ending, your drug coverage ends on the same day as your medical coverage. That's where most of the risk sits, so most of this page is about drugs.

What's my real deadline?

December 31, 2026. Your current plan pays until then, and anything you join by that date takes effect January 1, so nothing lapses. Medicare's Open Enrollment (October 15 to December 7) is the usual window, but because your plan is ending you also get a special enrollment period from December 8 through February 28, 2027. Joining in January means coverage starts February 1. Joining in February means March 1. The law gives you that extra time; your prescriptions don't.

Do I lose my drug coverage, and what does that cost me?

If you do nothing, Medicare puts you in Original Medicare on January 1, 2027. Parts A and B keep working. Drug coverage does not carry over, because it belonged to the plan that ended. The one exception: if you get Extra Help, CMS reassigns you to a stand-alone drug plan, and you can still swap it for another.

Two costs follow a gap. The first is obvious: full price at the pharmacy until new coverage begins. The second lasts longer. Medicare's late enrollment penalty kicks in after 63 or more days in a row without creditable drug coverage. It's figured as 1% of the national base beneficiary premium for each full month you went without, and the base for 2027 is $41.33. The penalty rides on your Part D premium for as long as you have Part D, even if you change plans. People with Extra Help don't pay it.

Some 2027 Part D figures worth knowing as you compare drug plans:

No Part D plan can set a deductible above $700 in 2027 (it was $615 in 2026), and some have none.
Once your own spending on covered Part D drugs reaches $2,400 in 2027, you pay nothing more for covered Part D drugs the rest of the year (the 2026 cap was $2,100).
Plans still differ on which drugs they cover and which pharmacies they use. Run your exact list through Medicare Plan Finder.

Can I keep seeing my doctors in Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities?

It depends which road you take. A replacement Medicare Advantage plan may require you to use its network for non-emergency care, and networks are set plan by plan, year by year. Call each office, including the hospital in Walla Walla, and ask about that specific plan for 2027. With Original Medicare, any provider in the country who accepts Medicare is fine.

If I go with Original Medicare, can I buy a supplement without health questions?

Yes. A plan that leaves the county triggers a guaranteed issue right under Washington's RCW 48.66.055. The OIC tells people to apply on or after November 1; the policy begins once the old plan is gone, and the right lasts until March 4, 2027. Which Medigap letters you can choose depends on whether you were first eligible for Medicare before 2020 or on or after January 1, 2020. Keep the plan's notice and envelope as proof. The statewide guide lists the plan letters for each group.

How do I get to a new doctor without driving?

Valley Transit serves both College Place and Walla Walla, and right now its fixed routes and Dial-a-Ride run at zero fare. Route 8 is the College Place Loop, stopping at 4th & College and Whitman & Mulberry, and the system's Route 6 VA / Medical Loop runs in Walla Walla. Door-to-door Dial-a-Ride is meant for riders a disability keeps off the fixed routes; at the moment, being older than 70 and living in the service area also makes you eligible, application required. Phone: 509-525-9140.

Who will help me for free?

SHIBA, Washington's free and unbiased Medicare counseling program: statewide line 800-562-6900, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The local sponsor for Walla Walla County is Catholic Charities Serving Central Washington, but OIC's local listings showed no appointments being taken when I checked on October 26, 2026, and sent people to Medicare.
Medicare: 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048), any time except some federal holidays.
Community Living Connections for the county is run by Southeast Washington Aging and Long Term Care from its East Cherry Street office in Walla Walla: 509-529-6470.
Extra Help lowers Part D costs. You qualify automatically with Medicaid, a Medicare Savings Program or SSI; others can apply through Social Security.

Your plan's mailed notices set your own dates, and federal Medicare rules and Washington law govern everything else; check your details with Medicare, SHIBA or a licensed agent before you decide.

Medicare plan discontinued in College Place: your questions, answered