Medicare Advantage

How Sacramento Enrollees Can Switch Medicare Advantage Plans

Sacramento County has 32 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 13 plans are not coming back, 7 are new, and 23 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 9 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Sacramento, not which plan to pick.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — If you signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan during fall enrollment and are having second thoughts, the calendar is on your side. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 through March 31, giving people already in an Advantage plan one more chance to change course before the year locks in.

This window is easy to miss because it sits quietly after the busier fall Annual Enrollment Period. But for Sacramento-area residents who realized in January that their new plan doesn't fit the way they thought it would, these three months are the difference between adjusting now and waiting until next fall.

Who this window is actually for

The January–March window applies to you if you were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of January 1. That includes people who joined during the fall Annual Enrollment Period and whose new plan started January 1.

It does not apply to people who are staying on Original Medicare and just want to add or change a stand-alone Part D drug plan. Those changes generally have to happen during the fall window (October 15 – December 7) or through a Special Enrollment Period.

What you can change between January 1 and March 31

During this window, if you're in a Medicare Advantage plan you can do one of the following:

• Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage).
• Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare. If you do that, you can also join a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

You cannot use this window to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time if you were on Original Medicare on January 1. And you can only make one change during this period — once it takes effect, you're set until the next enrollment opportunity.

Sacramento is in Sacramento County, where residents have a wide range of Medicare Advantage plans and carriers to choose from. Availability is set at the county level, so two neighbors on opposite sides of a county line can see different options.

When your change takes effect

Changes made during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period take effect on the first day of the month after the plan gets your request. So a switch requested in February would generally start March 1. A switch requested March 31 would start April 1. That timing matters if you're mid-treatment or waiting on a prescription refill — coverage doesn't overlap.

What happens if you miss March 31

After March 31, you're generally locked into your current Medicare Advantage plan for the rest of the year unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. Common reasons include:

• Moving out of your plan's service area.
• Losing other coverage (like employer or union coverage).
• Qualifying for Extra Help or Medicaid.
• Your plan leaving Medicare or changing its contract.

If none of those apply, your next chance to make a broad change is the fall Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 – December 7, for coverage starting the following January 1.

How this window fits with the other Medicare dates

It helps to see all the dates in one place:

• October 15 – December 7 — Annual Enrollment Period. Open to everyone with Medicare. You can join, switch, or drop Medicare Advantage and Part D plans.
• January 1 – March 31 — Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. Only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan. One change allowed.
• Your Initial Enrollment Period — the seven-month window around your 65th birthday when you first sign up.
• Special Enrollment Periods — triggered by specific life events throughout the year.

A few program-level figures are worth knowing as you compare options: the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027. The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") remains eliminated with three drug-benefit phases. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is also available to spread drug costs across the year in monthly amounts.

How to think through a possible switch

Before you use your one change, it helps to gather a few things: a current list of your prescriptions and dosages, the doctors and specialists you want to keep, and the pharmacies you actually use. Then you can check whether any plan you're considering covers those.

The Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code and prescriptions and compare available plans in Sacramento County side by side. Because this is your only change until the fall, it's worth taking an afternoon to do it right.

Where to get unbiased help

For personalized answers, three official resources are free and don't sell anything:

• Medicare.gov — the official site to compare plans and read the rules.
• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) — available 24/7.
• California's SHIP — the State Health Insurance Assistance Program is called HICAP (Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program) in California. HICAP counselors offer free, one-on-one Medicare help to Sacramento residents.