Medicare plan leaving Ferndale: don't lose your drug coverage in the switch

Ferndale sits on the I-5 corridor about 6 miles north of Bellingham and 13 miles south of the Canadian border, according to the city. It has no hospital of its own in the state's hospital list, so for most residents a hospital visit already means a drive into Bellingham. When a Medicare Advantage plan that covered all of that, plus your prescriptions, announces it is leaving, the piece that's easiest to underestimate is the drug coverage. This page leans on that piece.

Example: a Ferndale couple who put the letter in a drawer

Example (hypothetical, not a real client): A retired Ferndale couple each have the same Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage. This fall they each get a notice saying the plan won't be offered in Whatcom County in 2027. They mean to deal with it after the holidays.

• Through December 31, 2026 nothing changes. Their cards work and their pharmacy fills prescriptions as usual.
• January 1, 2027 both are automatically in Original Medicare. Doctor visits are covered under Part B. Prescriptions are not, because the drug benefit ended with the plan. (Had either of them qualified for Extra Help, CMS would have assigned that person to a stand-alone drug plan.)
• Mid-January one of them joins a Part D plan. Coverage starts February 1. For January, every prescription was full price.
• The other waits until spring and finds the plan-leaving special enrollment period closed on February 28. Unless another enrollment right applies, the next regular chance is Open Enrollment, October 15 to December 7, 2027, for coverage starting in 2028.

The second spouse now has two problems. First, a year of paying retail for medications. Second, a Part D late enrollment penalty. Medicare applies one when you go 63 or more days in a row without creditable drug coverage after your first enrollment period. The penalty is 1% of the national base beneficiary premium for each full uncovered month, added to your premium for as long as you have Medicare drug coverage. CMS set the 2027 base premium at $41.33. Twelve uncovered months would mean roughly 12% of that, about $5.00 a month (Medicare rounds the penalty to the nearest 10 cents), on top of whatever plan premium they choose. That figure is an illustration using the 2027 base; the actual amount follows the base for the year you pay it.

The first spouse missed one month of coverage, which is a real cost but under the 63-day line, so no penalty. Picking a drug plan by December 31 would have spared both of them.

Ferndale and Whatcom County by the numbers

Sources: WA OFM; U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year (Ferndale figures have a wide margin, so they are rounded); CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026. CMS does not publish counts for individual cities.

Read the county rows together. More Whatcom residents get drug coverage through a private Medicare plan than through stand-alone Part D. Every one of them whose plan is leaving needs to replace that drug benefit separately if they head to Original Medicare. It doesn't come along automatically.

Your two routes, briefly

Another Medicare Advantage plan. Most include drug coverage. Before joining, check that your doctors, the Bellingham hospital you'd use and your pharmacy are in its 2027 network, and that your medications are on its formulary.

Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan, and optionally a Medigap policy. Because your plan is being discontinued, Washington law (RCW 48.66.055) lets you buy certain Medigap plans with no medical underwriting. OIC tells people to apply November 1 or later, and the right lasts until March 4, 2027, 63 days after the plan ends. You lose that right if you choose a Medicare Advantage plan instead. Part D plans in 2027 can't have a deductible above $700, and covered out-of-pocket drug costs cap at $2,400 for the year.

Timing for both: choose by December 31 for a January 1 start. The special enrollment period that runs December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027 is a backstop, not a plan. Our Washington guide covers the Medigap plan letters and paperwork in more depth.

Help close to Ferndale

SHIBA's free counseling for Whatcom County is sponsored by the Whatcom Council on Aging. On October 26, OIC's office finder listed it as not taking appointments and pointed callers to Medicare, but the council's SHIBA page offers online drop-in sessions you can join by phone from home on Nov. 4, 9, 18 and 23 and Dec. 2. The statewide SHIBA number is 800-562-6900 (weekdays, 8:30 to 4:30), and 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays.

WTA fixed routes serve Ferndale, and riders who can't use the regular bus because of a disability can apply for WTA paratransit, which runs wherever and whenever the fixed routes do. The City of Ferndale points residents to the Whatcom Resource Information Cooperative's online directory for local support services. If paying for coverage is the hard part, a Medicare Savings Program application through washingtonconnection.org can also open the door to Extra Help, which waives the late penalty.

Your plan's mailed notices govern your own dates, and the rights described here come from federal Medicare rules and Washington law; confirm the details for your situation with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Whatcom County · Bellingham · Lynden

Ferndale residents also ask

Sources

1. City of Ferndale: About Ferndale
2. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population
3. U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024, table B09020
4. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
5. Medicare.gov: Part D costs and late enrollment penalty
6. CMS July 28, 2026 Parts C & D announcement (2027 base premium)
7. CMS CY 2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance
8. WA OIC: Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving
9. RCW 48.66.055
10. Whatcom Council on Aging: SHIBA
11. WA DOH hospital data
12. WTA fixed routes