Blog / Medicare Advantage

Can I switch from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare?

Yes, in two windows each year. The harder question is whether a Medigap company will still sell you the policy that covers your share.

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

Yes. You can drop a Medicare Advantage plan, a private plan that runs your Medicare for you, and go back to Original Medicare, the government's own coverage. There are two windows each year. Leaving is not complicated. The complication is what you land on.

The two windows: Annual Enrollment and Open Enrollment

• Annual Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7. The change starts January 1.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs January 1 to March 31. The change starts the first of the next month.

Some life changes open a window on their own. Moving out of the plan's service area, the counties it covers, is one. So is the plan leaving your area, or a move into or out of a nursing home. Gaining or losing Medicaid, or Extra Help, which lowers drug costs, counts too.

What you have to add: a drug plan and a supplement

Original Medicare pays most of your doctor and outpatient bills, the care you get without being admitted. You pay the other 20 percent, with no yearly cap. On a $50,000 year of care, that is $10,000.

You usually need two more pieces.

1. A standalone Part D plan for your prescriptions, meaning a drug plan you buy by itself. Sign up during the same window. Dropping Advantage does not give you drug coverage, and going without adds a penalty.
2. A Medicare Supplement, also called a Medigap policy, which pays that 20 percent for you. This is the piece nobody is required to sell you.

The underwriting question

This is the whole issue. In Texas, outside a protected window, a Medigap company can ask about your health history, turn you down, or charge you more. That is underwriting.

In a few situations you have a guaranteed right to buy a supplement with no health questions.

• The six months after your Part B starts, at or after 65. Part B pays for doctor visits and outpatient care. This is the main Medigap open enrollment window.
• A trial right, meaning you joined an Advantage plan when you first became eligible at 65 and drop it within twelve months.
• A trial right the other way, meaning you dropped a Medigap policy to try Advantage for the first time and come back within twelve months.
• Your plan leaves the area, loses its Medicare contract, or you move out of its service area.

If you cannot pass underwriting

You still have options.

• Move to a different Advantage plan with a lower out of pocket maximum, the most it can bill you in a year, or a wider network of doctors. A preferred provider organization, a PPO, is often wider.
• If you qualify for Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program, look at a dual eligible plan. Dual eligible means you have Medicare and Medicaid both, so you pay far less. See D-SNP plans.
• High deductible supplement plans cost less each month. The deductible is what you pay yourself first, and these plans still ask health questions.

The order to do it in

1. Decide during Annual Enrollment, not in a hurry.
2. Apply for the Medigap policy first and wait for approval.
3. Enroll in a standalone Part D plan.
4. Only then leave the Advantage plan. That happens on its own when you join a Part D plan on Original Medicare.
5. Confirm the new coverage in writing before the old plan ends.

See how the two paths compare, and what cancelling involves. To check your dates with someone, call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or use the ZIP 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.