Your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving Whatcom County. Here is how to replace it.

Whatcom County splits almost down the middle. Of the 54,297 people on Medicare here (CMS counts, July 2026), 25,421 get their coverage through Medicare Advantage and other health plans, and 28,876 use Original Medicare. So when a private plan pulls out of the county, it isn't a small corner of the market that feels it. If a letter showed up at your house this fall saying your plan won't continue in 2027, you're dealing with something that touches a large share of the county's Medicare market.

Whatcom's Medicare picture

Sources: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026; WA Office of Financial Management population estimates (65+ for 2025, total population of 242,250 for April 1, 2026).

Two lines in that table deserve a second look. First, 24,013 people here get their prescriptions through a Medicare Advantage plan. When that kind of plan ends, the drug benefit goes with it. Nobody mails you a replacement card unless you choose one, with one exception covered below.

Second, add the two drug rows together and you get 45,009. That leaves 9,288 Whatcom beneficiaries that CMS doesn't count in any Part D plan. Some have drug coverage from a former employer or the VA; some have none. If your discontinued plan was your only drug coverage, you are about to join that second group on January 1 unless you act.

Among Washington's 39 counties, Whatcom ranks ninth for the share of beneficiaries in private plans. That is high enough that a plan leaving can affect many households, and low enough that Original Medicare with a supplement is a familiar choice here. Neither road is the "normal" one in this county. You get to pick on the merits.

One hospital in a county the size of a small state

Whatcom covers about 2,108 square miles of land, from the saltwater along the Strait of Georgia to the North Cascades, and its northern edge is the Canadian border. The Washington Department of Health lists exactly one hospital in the county: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Hospital, on Squalicum Parkway in Bellingham. Residents of Blaine, Birch Bay, Sumas and Everson alike end up at that one campus for most inpatient care unless they leave the county.

That shapes how you should compare 2027 options. If you lean toward another Medicare Advantage plan, the first question is whether St. Joseph and the specialists you see there are in that plan's 2027 network. Ask the plan and ask the provider's billing office; don't rely on last year's directory. If you lean toward Original Medicare, the network question mostly disappears, because Original Medicare lets you see any doctor or hospital in the U.S. that accepts Medicare. The trade-off is that Original Medicare alone has no yearly cap on your share of costs, which is why the Medigap decision matters so much here.

How the federal and state rules apply here

Nothing about your care changes this year. The departing plan stays responsible for your claims until December 31, 2026; the switch happens on New Year's Day.

• Pick by December 31 and there is no gap. Whatever you sign up for during Open Enrollment (October 15 to December 7), or between December 8 and New Year's Eve, takes effect January 1, 2027.
• You have extra time, but it costs coverage. Because your plan is ending, a special enrollment period runs from December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. A choice made in January takes effect February 1; one made in February takes effect March 1.
• Doing nothing has a default. Medicare puts you in Original Medicare on January 1, and you have no drug plan at all. The one carve-out is for people with Extra Help, whom CMS places in a stand-alone drug plan automatically.
• Medigap without health questions. Washington's RCW 48.66.055 gives you a guaranteed issue right to buy a Medicare Supplement when your plan leaves your area. OIC says to apply no earlier than November 1. The right lasts until 63 days after the plan ends, which is March 4, 2027. Which letters you can buy depends on when Medicare first applied to you: before 2020, Plan A through Plan F plus K and L (high-deductible F included); January 1, 2020 or later, Plans A, B, D, G, K and L (high-deductible G included).
• The Medigap right only applies if you go to Original Medicare. Join another Medicare Advantage plan instead and you give it up.

File the plan's letter with its postmarked envelope. Insurers selling Medigap under this right may want proof that your old coverage ended, and that paperwork is the proof. If you are one of the 3,858 people in Whatcom on Medicare because of a disability and under 65, call SHIBA before you count on a supplement; federal law leaves insurers free to decline Medigap sales to people younger than 65, and OIC warns that this group has fewer choices. The full walk-through of every rule is in our Washington guide to a discontinued Medicare plan.

Local help as of October 26, 2026

Be ready for a mixed message. When I checked OIC's directory on October 26, both Whatcom Council on Aging SHIBA listings carried a notice that they aren't booking appointments and that callers should try 1-800-MEDICARE instead. Meanwhile, the Whatcom Council on Aging SHIBA page says the local volunteer team is swamped with Open Enrollment requests and has added online drop-in Medicare Q&A sessions by Zoom or phone, with no registration:

• Wednesday evenings, 5:30 to 7 p.m.: November 4, November 18 and December 2
• Monday mornings, 10 to 11:30 a.m.: November 9 and November 23

The page marks November 18, November 23 and December 2 as sessions supported by Spanish speakers. The local team lists 360-788-2725 and [email protected]. Statewide SHIBA counselors take calls at 800-562-6900 on weekdays between 8:30 and 4:30, and Medicare's own line, 1-800-633-4227, is staffed day and night. SHIBA counseling is free and doesn't sell anything.

For help beyond the plan choice, Northwest Regional Council is the Area Agency on Aging for Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan counties, at 600 Lakeway Drive in Bellingham (360-738-2500). If money is tight, apply for a Medicare Savings Program through washingtonconnection.org; approval can also bring Extra Help with drug costs.

Getting to a new doctor is a real issue in a county this spread out. Whatcom Transportation Authority runs paratransit for riders whose disability keeps them off the regular bus, covering the same area and hours as the fixed routes, at $3.00 a ride. You have to apply and be approved first. Rural areas outside the fixed routes get zone service on set days with advance reservations.

What I'd do in the next two weeks

1. Write the end date from your letter on the calendar, then write December 31 next to it as your own deadline.
2. List every prescription, dose included, and run it through Medicare Plan Finder under both roads: a new Medicare Advantage plan, and Original Medicare with a Part D plan.
3. Call the St. Joseph billing office or your clinic and ask which 2027 plans they expect to accept.
4. Decide on Medigap before March 4, 2027 if Original Medicare is your direction. If you want a January 1 start with no gap, apply between November 1 and December 31.
5. Join one of the online SHIBA sessions above if you want a neutral second opinion.

Your plan's own notices set your exact dates, and federal Medicare rules plus Washington law decide what you're entitled to, so check anything you're unsure of with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent before you sign.

Related pages: Washington statewide guide · Bellingham · Ferndale · Lynden

Whatcom County questions

Sources

1. CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026
2. WA OFM April 1, 2026 population estimates
3. WA OFM population by age, 2020-2025
4. WA OIC: Is your Medicare Advantage plan changing or leaving?
5. WA OIC: Find a local SHIBA office
6. Whatcom Council on Aging: SHIBA
7. RCW 48.66.055 (Medigap guaranteed issue)
8. CMS CY 2027 MA and Part D Enrollment Guidance
9. Medicare: Choosing a Medigap Policy (2026)
10. WA DOH hospital data
11. Whatcom Transportation Authority: Paratransit
12. DSHS Area Agency on Aging contact list