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Can I keep my own doctor with Medicare?

With Original Medicare, yes, any doctor that accepts Medicare. With Medicare Advantage, only if your doctor is in that plan's network, and networks change every January.

Updated September 3, 2026 · 4 min read · by Gerino Alejos

With Original Medicare, yes. You can see any doctor, specialist or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, and most do. With a Medicare Advantage plan, a private plan that takes the place of Original Medicare, only if your doctor is in the plan's network, the list of doctors the plan has contracts with. Networks change every year.

This question usually decides which path a person takes. You can check which plans your doctors take on the official plan finder.

With Original Medicare: any doctor that accepts Medicare

You can see any doctor, specialist or hospital in the United States that accepts Medicare. There is no network and no referral, the note from your main doctor that some plans require before you see a specialist. Nearly all doctors accept Medicare.

Doctors who take Medicare fall into three groups:

• Participating doctors accept Medicare assignment. That means they take Medicare's approved amount as full payment. This is most doctors.
• Non participating doctors accept Medicare but can bill up to 15 percent above the approved amount. That extra is called an excess charge. On a $200 visit, that is up to $30 more. Some supplement policies, also called Medigap, the policy that pays the share Medicare leaves to you, cover that charge and some do not.
• Opt out doctors have left Medicare completely and bill you directly. They are rare, and mostly found in a few fields like psychiatry and concierge practices.

So with a supplement, the practical answer is yes. Keep your doctor, and it stays yes if you move or travel. See how Medigap works with any doctor.

With Medicare Advantage: doctors in the plan's network

Now it depends on the plan's network, and that is a real question, not a formality.

• HMO plans (health maintenance organization) usually require you to stay in the network and to get a referral to see a specialist. Care outside the network is usually not covered except in an emergency.
• PPO plans (preferred provider organization) let you go outside the network at a higher cost. You have more choice, and you pay more for it.

Before you enroll, check each of your doctors against the exact plan, for the exact year, not just the company that sells it.

Networks change every January

Networks are not permanent. A doctor or a hospital system can leave a plan's network at the end of a plan year, and a plan can drop a group of doctors.

If your doctor leaves during the year, you usually cannot switch plans in response. That is not a qualifying event, a life change that opens a special sign up window. You wait for October. See what to review during Annual Enrollment.

How to confirm your doctor is in network

1. Call the doctor's billing office and ask whether they have a contract with the exact plan name for the coming year, not just the insurance company.
2. Ask about the hospital the doctor admits to. A doctor in the network who admits to a hospital outside it is a problem waiting to happen.
3. Check the plan's own doctor directory as a second source. Directories are often out of date.
4. Do this again every fall.

Asking the front desk whether they take a company is not enough. One company runs many plans, and a practice may accept some and not others.

Which path keeps your doctor

If keeping one doctor matters more than anything else, Original Medicare with a supplement removes the question for good. If your doctors are solidly inside a good local network, an Advantage plan gives you more benefits for less each month.

Here in South Texas the networks are deep, which is why so many people do well on Advantage plans. It is still worth checking rather than assuming. See the full comparison of both paths.

Start with a list of every doctor you see and the hospital each one uses. Check that list against any plan before you sign, and again each fall. If you want us to check it with you, call the office or enter your ZIP code in the form on this page.

Gerino Alejos

Licensed insurance agent · License 3128710 · NPN 18243381

Owner of McAllen Insurance Group, an independent agency on North 10th Street in McAllen. Works with clients across Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties on Medicare, Marketplace health, life and auto coverage. Se habla español.