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Can I switch from Medicare Advantage to a Medigap plan?

You can leave Advantage in two windows a year. Whether you can get a Medigap policy after that depends on underwriting, unless a trial right applies.

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

Yes, and leaving the Advantage plan is the easy half. The hard half is getting a Medigap policy, a plan that pays the share of the bills Original Medicare leaves to you. In Texas the company can review your health before it says yes, so the order you do this in matters.

The two things that must both happen: leaving Advantage and being accepted

1. You drop the Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare, during Annual Enrollment in the fall or the January through March Advantage window.
2. You are approved for a Medigap policy. In Texas that usually means medical underwriting, which is when the company looks at your health history and can say no.

The first one is a calendar question. The second is a health question. See how to choose between the two paths.

When you skip underwriting: trial rights and guaranteed issue

A few situations give you a guaranteed issue right, a window when no company can ask health questions, charge you more, or turn you down. Two of them are trial rights, a limited second chance to go back.

• Trial right: you joined an Advantage plan when you first became eligible for Medicare at 65, and you drop it within twelve months.
• Trial right: you dropped a Medigap policy to try an Advantage plan for the first time, and you go back within twelve months.
• Your Advantage plan leaves the area or loses its Medicare contract.
• You move out of the plan's service area, the counties where the plan is sold.
• The plan misled you or broke its contract.

If none of those apply

Then you go through underwriting. A Texas company can ask health questions, charge you more, or decline your application. Health standards differ from one company to the next, so it helps to work with someone who represents several.

The order that keeps you covered

1. Apply for the Medigap policy first, while you are still enrolled in the Advantage plan.
2. Wait for written approval and a confirmed start date.
3. Sign up for a standalone Part D plan, the drug coverage you buy on its own, for that same start date. Dropping Advantage ends your current drug coverage.
4. Only then finish dropping the Advantage plan. Joining a standalone Part D plan while on Original Medicare usually does this for you.
5. Get every date in writing before the old plan ends.

Never drop the Advantage plan first. If the Medigap application is turned down after you have left, you are back on Original Medicare with no cap on what you can be billed. You may have no easy way back until the next window.

If you are declined

• Ask other companies before you decide it cannot be done.
• Ask about a different plan letter, or a high deductible version, which some companies review differently. A deductible is what you pay yourself before the plan starts paying. See high deductible Plan G.
• Stay on the Advantage plan and look for one with a lower out of pocket maximum, the yearly cap on what you pay, and a wider network of doctors.
• If you qualify for Medicaid or a state savings program, a dual eligible plan (you have both Medicare and Medicaid) may leave you paying very little. See D-SNP plans.

Read how returning to Original Medicare works and what underwriting asks about. Start the Medigap application before you touch the Advantage plan. Call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or enter your ZIP code in the plan pricing box 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.