Chaperone Health Insurance Plus
Can You Switch From Medicare Advantage to Medigap Without Underwriting in South Florida?
Reviewed October 2026 · Covers the 2027 plan year
If your Medicare Advantage plan sent you a letter saying it won’t be back in your area for 2027, you may be asking a question I hear often this time of year: can you switch from Medicare Advantage to Medigap, and will you have to answer health questions to do it? The answer depends on why you’re leaving and when you apply. In some situations, federal law gives you a guaranteed issue right, which means a Medigap insurer can’t turn you down or charge you more because of your health. In others, you may face medical underwriting.
I’m Roxroy Ashley, an independent licensed agent with HealthMarkets, based in Fort Lauderdale. I’ve spent 14 years in insurance and the last 8 focused on Medicare, and I help people in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach sort out which rights they have and how much time is left to use them. If you’d like me to look at your letter and your options, book a free plan review and I’ll get back to you personally within 24 to 48 hours.
I’LL EVEN CALL YOUR DOCTOR
Get a Free Quote From a Medicare Broker Who Helps You Switch From Medicare Advantage to Medigap
Switching paths means timing several start dates so nothing lapses, so before you change anything, I check:
- Whether you have a guaranteed issue right, which plan letters it covers, and your deadline
- Your prescriptions and pharmacy against each Part D plan you’d add
- Your full-year cost on each path: Medigap plus Part D, or staying in Medicare Advantage
If anything is unclear, I call your doctor’s office to confirm it. Your quote is free, with no obligation to enroll. Get your free quote and I’ll do the research for you.
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Why Choose Me to Switch From Medicare Advantage to Medigap
When you’re choosing who to guide a switch, here’s what to look for, and what you can expect from me.
I Confirm Your Rights First: Before you change anything, I read your plan’s letter with you, confirm whether you have a guaranteed issue right, which plan letters it covers, and the last day to use it.
Your Doctors, Hospitals, and Prescriptions Checked First: With Medigap, your doctors are covered anywhere Medicare is accepted, so the checking shifts to your Part D plan. Before I recommend any plan, I check your doctors, hospitals, and every prescription against its network and drug list, including your pharmacy. If something is unclear, I’ll call your doctor’s office myself.
Every Question Answered, at Your Pace: Guaranteed issue rights, plan letters, and deadlines are confusing, and most people spend less than an hour on the decision. I take as long as you need, explain each piece in plain language, and answer every question until it makes sense. There’s no pressure and no obligation to enroll.
The Plan That Costs Less for You: I estimate your full-year cost on each path: the Medigap premium, a separate Part D plan, and what you’d still pay out of pocket, against the Medicare Advantage plans still available in your county.
My Help Costs You Nothing Extra: Insurers pay my commission, and plan premiums are generally the same whether you enroll through me or directly, so you get personal guidance and ongoing support at no additional charge.
Both Paths, Side by Side: I compare Medigap with a Part D plan against the Medicare Advantage plans still available to you, so you can see what you’d gain and give up either way. If staying in Medicare Advantage fits you better, I’ll tell you.
I Handle the Paperwork and the Timing: I line up your Medigap and Part D start dates so your coverage continues on January 1, complete the applications with you, and follow them through to approval.
Licensed and Verified: I’m licensed in 33 states, I complete AHIP’s annual Medicare certification, and I’m certified for the 2027 plan year. You can verify my license (Florida License #W323530, NPN #17946070) anytime through your state’s insurance department.
I Stay Your Agent After You Enroll: Work with me directly, in person, by phone, on Zoom, or at your home in Broward, Miami-Dade, or Palm Beach, and I reply within 24 to 48 hours. I review your coverage every Annual Enrollment Period and help with claims and billing in between.
You can read all 25 reasons we should work together on my Why Choose Me page.
Can I Switch From Medicare Advantage to Medigap? How Medical Underwriting Works
Yes, you can leave Medicare Advantage and go back to Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) during a valid enrollment period, and then apply for a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan. The catch is that leaving Medicare Advantage and getting accepted by a Medigap insurer are two separate steps, with two separate sets of rules.
What underwriting means: Medical underwriting is when an insurance company reviews your health history before deciding whether to accept your application and what to charge. For Medigap, that usually means a list of health questions on the application, and sometimes a review of your prescriptions or medical records. Based on your answers, the insurer may accept you at its standard rate, charge you more, or decline you.
When underwriting can’t be used: Medigap insurers can’t use underwriting during your Medigap open enrollment period, which is the six months starting the month you’re 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, or when you have a guaranteed issue right. If you joined Medicare Advantage when you first got Medicare, your open enrollment period has likely passed, so a guaranteed issue right is usually what makes a switch possible without health questions.
When it can: If you don’t have either protection, a Medigap insurer can generally ask health questions and use your answers to decide. Someone in good health may still be accepted, but there’s no guarantee, and a recent diagnosis, hospital stay, or certain prescriptions can lead to a decline. That’s why I check your rights before you leave a Medicare Advantage plan, never after.
Medigap Guaranteed Issue Rights: When They Apply
For how Medigap plans work in general, including Plan G and Plan N, start with my Medicare Supplement plans page.
Medigap guaranteed issue rights are protections under federal law, and Florida’s own rules (Florida Administrative Code 69O-156.0095) follow the same structure. When you have one, an insurer that sells the covered plans in Florida must sell you one, can’t charge you more because of past or present health problems, and can’t make you wait for coverage of a pre-existing condition. You may hear it called Medigap guaranteed issue or Medicare supplement guaranteed issue. They mean the same thing.
Your Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area or leaves Medicare: This is the situation many South Floridians are facing for 2027. If your plan won’t renew in your county, stops serving your area, or leaves Medicare altogether, you have a guaranteed issue right, but only if you go back to Original Medicare. If you join another Medicare Advantage plan, this right doesn’t come with it. The same right applies if you move out of your plan’s service area, or if you leave because the plan broke Medicare’s rules or misled you.
The Medicare Advantage “trial right”: If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan (or PACE) when you first became eligible for Part A at 65, and you decide within the first 12 months that it isn’t for you, you can return to Original Medicare and buy any Medigap plan sold in Florida (Plans C and F only if you were eligible for Medicare before 2020). There’s a second trial right too: if you dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time, and you leave within the first 12 months, you can get your old Medigap policy back if the same company still sells it, or buy one of the plans listed in the next section. In some cases these trial rights can last longer, so I’ll help you confirm your dates with the plan or Florida’s SHINE program.
Other qualifying reasons: You may also have a guaranteed issue right if employer or union coverage that pays after Medicare is ending, if your Medigap insurer goes bankrupt or your policy ends through no fault of your own, or if you have a Medicare SELECT policy and move out of its area.
Which Medigap Plans You Can Buy With a Guaranteed Issue Right
A guaranteed issue right doesn’t open every Medigap plan. When a Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area, the federal list is short, and which plans are on it depends on when you became eligible for Medicare.
If you’re new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020: Plans C and F aren’t sold to people new to Medicare on or after that date. In their place, your guaranteed issue right covers Plan D or Plan G, along with Plan A and Plan B. Medicare.gov and Florida’s rule also list Plans K and L.
If you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020: Your guaranteed issue right covers Plans A, B, C, and F, and Medicare.gov and Florida’s rule also list Plans K and L. Plan G isn’t on the federal guaranteed issue list for you in this situation, so if Plan G is the plan you want, an insurer may still ask health questions.
What’s not included: Plan N isn’t on the guaranteed issue list in a Medicare Advantage exit. An insurer may still choose to accept you for Plan N, but it can use underwriting to decide. The trial right for people who joined Medicare Advantage at 65 is broader: it covers any Medigap plan sold in Florida, except that Plans C and F are only available to people eligible for Medicare before 2020.
Medigap plans are standardized by letter, so Plan G has the same basic benefits from one insurance company to the next, while premiums can differ by company and by ZIP code. If you’re weighing the two most popular letters, see my guide to Medicare Plan G vs. Plan N in Florida.
The 63-Day Window and the Documents to Keep
When your plan is ending its coverage in your area, you can apply for a Medigap plan under your guaranteed issue right as early as 60 days before your Medicare Advantage coverage ends, and no later than 63 days after it ends. Your Medigap coverage can’t start until your Medicare Advantage coverage ends. For a plan whose coverage ends December 31, 2026, the window opens in early November 2026, and the last day to apply is March 4, 2027 (63 days after December 31). Waiting until the last week is risky, though, so I recommend applying as early as you can.
Apply early, start on time: A Medigap policy can’t start until your Medicare Advantage coverage ends, but you can apply as early as 60 days before it ends, so your Medigap plan starts January 1, 2027, the day after your old plan ends. That avoids a stretch where Original Medicare is your only coverage.
Add drug coverage: Medigap plans sold today don’t include prescription drug coverage, so you’ll want a standalone Part D plan that starts January 1 as well. You can choose one during the Annual Enrollment Period, which ends December 7, 2026. People whose plan isn’t renewing also get a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 through the last day of February. If you go 63 days or more in a row without Part D or other creditable drug coverage, you may owe a late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Part D. My Medicare Part D page explains how drug plans work.
Don’t cancel anything early: Let your Medicare Advantage plan end on its own date. If you don’t choose another Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll go back to Original Medicare automatically, but without drug coverage unless you pick a Part D plan.
Keep your paperwork: Hold onto the non-renewal letter from your plan, along with the envelope it came in, since the postmark shows when it was mailed. Keep any emails or notices with your name on them that show your coverage is ending. A Medigap insurer may ask for a copy with your application as proof of your guaranteed issue right. If you haven’t read your letter closely yet, my guide to what your 2027 Medicare ANOC or non-renewal notice means explains what to look for.
Florida Medigap Rules, Including the Birthday Rule Question
Florida has no birthday rule: A handful of states let people switch Medigap plans around their birthday each year without health questions. Florida isn’t one of them, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ state chart (May 2026). In Florida, your protections come from your Medigap open enrollment period and the guaranteed issue situations above.
Protections for people under 65: Medicare isn’t only for people 65 and older, and Florida goes further than federal law here. Florida law requires Medigap insurers to offer coverage, without medical underwriting, to residents under 65 who have Medicare because of a disability or end-stage renal disease, during a six-month window that starts when they enroll in Part B. If you’re under 65 and your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving, I’ll help you confirm what applies to you, and you can also check with SHINE or the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Once you’re in, you stay in: Under Florida law, a Medigap insurer can’t cancel or refuse to renew your policy for any reason other than not paying your premium or a material misrepresentation on your application. Your health can’t be the reason.
If you don’t have a guaranteed issue right: You can still apply for a Medigap plan, but the insurer can use underwriting. If you’re accepted, you’d want your Medigap plan approved and in place before your Medicare Advantage coverage ends. If you’re not accepted, staying with or choosing another Medicare Advantage plan may be the practical choice, and I’ll help you compare those plans just as carefully.
What You Gain and What You Give Up When You Switch
Switching from Medicare Advantage to Medigap isn’t the right move for everyone, and Florida law prohibits misleading comparisons used to get someone to replace one policy with another. So I lay out both sides for every client.
What you may gain: With Original Medicare and a Medigap plan, you can see any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, with no network and no referrals. Depending on the plan letter, your costs for covered care can be very predictable, which many people value if they see specialists often or spend part of the year outside Florida.
What you may give up: Medigap has its own monthly premium, and you’ll usually pay a separate Part D premium too, so your fixed monthly cost will generally be higher than with many Medicare Advantage plans. Medigap doesn’t cover routine dental, vision, or hearing care, or the extra benefits some Medicare Advantage plans include. And if you leave Medicare Advantage now and want to come back later, you can only rejoin during an enrollment period.
One more thing to weigh: If you leave Medigap later to try Medicare Advantage again, you may not be able to get Medigap back without underwriting. That’s why I treat this as a long-term decision. For a side-by-side look at both paths, see my guide to Medicare Advantage vs. Medicare Supplement in Broward County.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Switching From Medicare Advantage to Medigap
Can I Switch From Medicare Advantage to Medigap Without Underwriting at Any Time?
No. You can switch from Medicare Advantage to Medigap without underwriting only during your Medigap open enrollment period or when you have a guaranteed issue right, such as your plan leaving your area or the trial right in your first year. At other times, a Medigap insurer in Florida can generally ask health questions and use your answers to decide whether to accept you and what to charge.
What Are Qualifying Reasons for a Medigap Guaranteed Issue Right?
The main qualifying reasons are your Medicare Advantage plan leaving Medicare or stopping service in your area, moving out of your plan’s service area, leaving a plan that broke the rules or misled you, the trial right in your first 12 months of Medicare Advantage, employer or union coverage that pays after Medicare ending, and losing a Medigap policy through no fault of your own. Each has its own deadline, so keep the letter that shows why your coverage ended.
Is Medigap Guaranteed Issue Different From Medicare Supplement Guaranteed Issue?
No. Medigap and Medicare Supplement are two names for the same kind of coverage, so Medigap guaranteed issue and Medicare supplement guaranteed issue refer to the same protection. Medicare Advantage is a different path, and it isn’t a Medicare Supplement plan.
Can I Get Plan G or Plan N With a Guaranteed Issue Right?
If you became new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, and your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving your area, Plan G is on your guaranteed issue list. If you were eligible before 2020, Plan G isn’t on the federal list for that situation, though Plan C and Plan F are. Plan N isn’t on the list in either case. The trial right for people who joined Medicare Advantage at 65 covers any Medigap plan sold in Florida, including Plan G and Plan N.
What Happens if I Do Nothing When My Medicare Advantage Plan Leaves?
You’ll return to Original Medicare on January 1, 2027, but you won’t have drug coverage or a Medigap plan unless you choose them. Your guaranteed issue right lasts until 63 days after your coverage ends, but going without drug coverage for 63 days or more can lead to a Part D late enrollment penalty, so it’s best to decide before your plan ends.
Does Florida Have a Medigap Birthday Rule?
No. Florida doesn’t have a birthday rule or an annual Medigap open enrollment. Florida does require insurers to offer Medigap without underwriting to residents under 65 with Medicare due to disability or end-stage renal disease during their first six months of Part B.
Can I Go Back to Medicare Advantage After I Switch to Medigap?
Yes, you can join a Medicare Advantage plan during the Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 to December 7 each year, or during a Special Enrollment Period if one applies. Keep in mind that if you drop your Medigap plan, you may not be able to buy one again later without underwriting, unless a trial right or other guaranteed issue right applies.
Which Medigap Companies Can You Help Me With?
Medigap companies and premiums vary by ZIP code, and I’ll tell you upfront which Medigap options I can help you with in your area. For Medicare Advantage and Part D plans: We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 8 organizations which offer 65 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get information on all of your options. In Florida, you can also get free, unbiased Medicare counseling through SHINE.
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Got a letter saying your plan is leaving? Pick a time for a free 15-minute call by phone or video. Bring your plan’s notice and your list of medications, and I’ll check your guaranteed issue rights and your deadlines. My help never costs you anything extra.
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