Medicare problems?

Medicare in Maine has been a Roller coaster ride over the last 2 years, and who knows what 2027 is going to bring.  In 2026 at least Three plans in our areas had price increases, there was Service area Reductions and most plans are reducing extra benefits.

So USE THIS AS your opportunity to enroll in a Medigap plan under guaranteed issue!!!!

2026 Medicare advantage plan prices $35, $36 $49 or $55 $109 

My formal recommendation is to use this as an opportunity to get a Medigap plan.

• If you get a SAR (service area reduction you have guaranteed issue rights)

• You can do a High deductible plan G for $57 or a Plan G for $251 per month.  See below and schedule a time to make the switch in October, November or December.

• If you are paying for your Medicare plan set up an appointment you may be able to get a Medigap plan and get off of the Medicare advantage merry-go-round.

A service area reduction (SAR) happens when a Medicare Advantage carrier pulls back its coverage footprint — dropping certain counties, ZIP codes, or in some cases an entire region — so members who live in the affected area can no longer keep that plan for the coming year. It's distinct from a full plan termination, since the carrier is still operating the plan elsewhere; the enrollees who lose coverage are only the ones whose address falls outside the newly shrunk service area. Carriers are required to notify affected members by mail, typically by the end of September for changes taking effect the following January 1, and that notice spells out the termination date and what enrollment options are available.

Here's why that matters for Medigap: normally, applying for a Medigap policy outside your initial 6-month open enrollment window means going through medical underwriting, and someone with health conditions can be charged more or denied outright. But federal law grants "guaranteed issue" rights — meaning a carrier must accept you regardless of health status, at standard rates — in specific triggering events, and an involuntary loss of Medicare Advantage coverage due to the plan leaving your area is one of those triggers. So when a client gets a SAR notice, that letter itself is the qualifying event that unlocks guaranteed issue for a Medigap plan, letting them move to Medicare Supplement coverage without answering health questions.

The sequence is: they receive the notice (by roughly end of September) → during AEP (Oct 15–Dec 7) or the subsequent SEP, they can either pick a new MA plan or move to Medigap → if they choose Medigap, the SAR letter itself documents the guaranteed issue trigger, and in Maine they have up to 90 days post-termination to lock it in without underwriting.

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