Federal law gives you two 12-month trial rights to leave a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, return to Original Medicare, and buy a Medigap policy with no health screening. Miss those windows and an insurer can medically underwrite you, charge more, or refuse you a policy outright. This guide lays out both trial rights, the 60-days-before and 63-days-after deadline that applies when you leave voluntarily, how they fit the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, and the exact steps to switch back.

In This Guide

If you are already past your first year in an Advantage plan, the protection most relevant to you is the underwriting risk: skip to why the first decision matters.

The two windows for switching

There are two annual chances to change how you receive Medicare, and they do different jobs. The fall Annual Election Period runs October 15 to December 7 each year, and changes take effect January 1; this is when most people join, switch, or drop a plan for the coming year. The second window is specific to people already in an Advantage plan.

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP) runs January 1 to March 31 every year. During it, if you are already enrolled in an Advantage plan, you may make one change: switch to a different Advantage plan, or drop Advantage and return to Original Medicare with a standalone Part D drug plan. It is separate from the fall window, limited to one change per year, and cannot be used to join Advantage for the first time from Original Medicare.

Dropping Advantage during the MA OEP returns you to Original Medicare, but the MA OEP by itself does not guarantee you a Medigap policy. Guaranteed-issue access to Medigap depends on hitting a trial right or another qualifying circumstance, covered next.

The Medicare Advantage trial right

A trial right is the protection that keeps your Medigap options open. A Medigap policy cannot pay your Medicare Advantage copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, or premiums, and while you are in an Advantage plan CMS says it is illegal for anyone to sell you a Medigap policy unless you are switching back to Original Medicare, so returning to Original Medicare is what makes buying one possible. Federal Medicare law provides two separate 12-month trial rights, and each guarantees a Medigap policy with no medical underwriting.

Trial right 1, first-time Advantage (or PACE) at 65. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan, or a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) program, when you were first eligible for Medicare Part A at 65, and within that first year you decide to switch to Original Medicare, you have a guaranteed-issue right to buy any Medigap policy sold by an insurance company in your state. Your chance to drop the Advantage plan lasts for 12 months after you first join it. "Any" is the word that matters: in most states Medigap is sold as lettered Plans A through D, F, G, and K through N, so this trial right reaches Plan N, Plan K, Plan L, Plan M and the high-deductible version of Plan G where it is offered, not just the shorter list attached to the other guaranteed-issue situations.

Trial right 2, dropped Medigap to try Advantage (or Medicare SELECT). If you dropped a Medigap policy to join an Advantage plan, or to switch to a Medicare SELECT policy, for the first time, have been in the plan less than a year, and want to switch back, you have a guaranteed-issue right to buy back the Medigap policy you had before you joined, provided the same insurance company you had before still sells it. If that former policy is not available, you are not left with nothing: the 2026 CMS Medigap guide states you may buy Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G sold by an insurance company in your state instead, with Plans D and G in place of the closed Plans C and F if you were new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. That fallback covers both versions of this trial right, the Advantage one and the Medicare SELECT one. The federal statute is also wider than the consumer guide about what you can have tried: 42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(3)(B)(v) reaches someone who dropped a Medigap policy to enroll for the first time in a Part C plan, a Medicare cost plan, a demonstration-project organization, or a PACE program, so trying PACE or a cost plan counts as well as Advantage or Medicare SELECT.

Two details are easy to miss. The trial right is tied to your first time in Advantage, not to any later switch, so someone who has cycled through Advantage before does not get a fresh 12-month trial each time they enroll. And you only have the right if you switch to Original Medicare; moving from one Advantage plan to another Advantage plan does not trigger it.

One exception matters when the change was not your choice. Under 42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(3)(F), if the Advantage plan or PACE program you joined is involuntarily terminated within the first 12 months of your enrollment and you then enroll in another such plan or program with no intervening enrollment, that later enrollment is deemed to be an initial enrollment, so the trial-right clock restarts on the replacement plan rather than the right being lost. The statute caps that: no enrollment counts as an initial enrollment after the two-year period beginning on the date you first enrolled. If your first Advantage plan pulled out of your county mid-year and you moved to another one, do not assume the door has closed.

The 63-day guaranteed-issue window

Either trial right is only usable inside a limited guaranteed-issue window. You can apply for the Medigap policy as early as 60 days before the date your Advantage coverage ends, but no later than 63 days after your coverage ends. Apply within it and the guaranteed-issue protection holds; let it lapse and you may face underwriting. Medicare adds that your rights may last an extra 12 months in certain circumstances, so if you think you have just missed the window, check with your State Insurance Department before you give up on it.

That 60-days-before and 63-days-after rule is the statute's clock for someone who disenrolls voluntarily. Where your enrollment is terminated involuntarily, the period instead runs from the date you receive the notice of termination and ends 63 days after your coverage ends, so a plan exit you did not choose does not shorten your time. Whichever clock applies, the plan, insurer, or plan administrator that ends your coverage is required to notify you of these rights at the time of the event.

One condition travels with the application, and it is easy to skip. Federal law grants the guaranteed-issue right to someone who submits evidence of the date of termination or disenrollment along with the Medigap application, so keep your disenrollment confirmation or termination letter and send a copy in with the paperwork. Medicare separately advises keeping copies of the letters, notices, emails, or claim denials that ended your coverage, and the postmarked envelope they came in, because you may need them to prove the right.

A worked example makes the timing concrete. If you joined your first Advantage plan in March 2025, your 12-month trial right runs through March 2026, and you can disenroll any time inside that year. Disenroll effective March 31, 2026, and your guaranteed-issue application window closes about 63 days later, in early June 2026.

The trial right is not the only event that opens a guaranteed-issue window, and the other situations are not interchangeable with it. Medicare's broader guaranteed-issue rights are an enumerated federal list of circumstances in which an insurer cannot deny you a policy, and each situation carries its own application window and its own restriction on which policies you may buy. If your Advantage plan is leaving Medicare, stops giving care in your area, significantly changes its network, or you move out of its service area, you have a guaranteed-issue right of your own, but it entitles you to Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G sold by an insurance company in your state rather than to any plan the way trial right 1 does, and you have it only if you switch to Original Medicare instead of joining another Advantage plan. Apply 60 days before the date your Advantage coverage ends, or by the date in your plan's termination notice, and no more than 63 days after your coverage ends; the Medigap policy cannot start until your Advantage coverage ends.

Other situations on that federal list run on different clocks, so do not read one window as the rule for all of them. When an employer, retiree, COBRA, or union plan that pays after Medicare is ending, for instance, the 63 days run from the latest of three dates: the date your coverage ends, the date on the notice telling you it is ending, or the date on a claim denial, if that denial is the only way you learned your coverage had ended. Our guide to Medigap guaranteed-issue rights walks through the full federal list.

Situation Guaranteed-issue Medigap? Which policies Window
Return to Original Medicare within 12 months of first joining Advantage or PACE (trial right 1) Yes Any Medigap policy sold in your state 60 days before to 63 days after MA coverage ends, or from the notice date if the termination was involuntary
Buy back the Medigap policy you dropped to try Advantage or Medicare SELECT, within a year (trial right 2) Yes Your former policy if the same insurer still sells it, otherwise Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G 60 days before to 63 days after your coverage ends
Your Advantage plan is leaving Medicare, stops giving care in your area, significantly changes its network, or you move out of its service area Yes Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G sold in your state 60 days before your coverage ends, or by the date on the plan's termination notice, to 63 days after it ends
You drop Advantage during the MA Open Enrollment Period (Jan 1 to Mar 31), no qualifying event, past your trial year Not guaranteed Whatever the insurer chooses to sell you Insurer may apply underwriting

How to use a Medicare Advantage trial right to switch back

Exercising a trial right is a two-part task: leave the Advantage plan, then apply for Medigap inside the guaranteed-issue window.

  1. Disenroll from your Advantage plan. Start with the plan itself, using the number on your member ID card, since CMS directs plan-specific requests there first; if the plan cannot resolve it, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048). Dropping the Advantage plan returns you to Original Medicare automatically. Do this during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31) or another period you qualify for.
  2. Add Original Medicare drug coverage if you need it. Original Medicare does not include Part D, so enroll in a standalone Part D prescription drug plan when you disenroll.
  3. Apply for Medigap inside the window, and send your proof with it. Apply for your Medigap policy as early as 60 days before your Advantage coverage ends and no later than 63 days after it ends. Tell the insurer you are using a guaranteed-issue trial right so it cannot underwrite you, and include evidence of your disenrollment or termination date, which federal law makes a condition of the right.
  4. Get free, unbiased help. Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) offers no-cost Medicare counseling and can confirm which plans an insurer sells in your state. Find your local SHIP with the "Find Local Medicare Help" locator at shiphelp.org, or call the SHIP National Technical Assistance Center at 1-877-839-2675.

The warning: why the first decision matters

Outside these protected windows, switching from Advantage back to Original Medicare does not guarantee that a Medigap insurer will accept you. The insurer can apply medical underwriting, review your health history, and either deny you a policy or charge a higher premium based on your conditions. The one nationwide exception most people get is the six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which begins the first month you are both 65 and enrolled in Part B; during it an insurer cannot refuse to sell you any Medigap policy it offers, cannot use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept your application, and cannot charge you more because you have health problems. That window is not the same thing as a guaranteed-issue right, though. During the Medigap Open Enrollment Period an insurer may still refuse to cover your out-of-pocket costs for a pre-existing condition for up to 6 months, and it can only impose that waiting period if you did not have at least 6 months of continuous prior creditable coverage; under a guaranteed-issue right, by contrast, the insurer must cover your pre-existing conditions with no waiting period. Once that has passed, your guaranteed access depends on hitting one of the windows above.

This is why the initial choice between Advantage and Original Medicare carries real consequences. If you enroll in Advantage at 65 and stay past your trial year, then later decide you want Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, an insurer may charge more or refuse you based on your health. The underwriting-free door to Medigap is widest at the start, because the one-time six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period and the 12-month trial rights are the broadest protections federal law offers against medical underwriting, and each runs only once.

State rules that go beyond the federal floor

The trial rights above are the federal floor, and they apply in every state. Well over a dozen states go beyond that floor, so a resident there may have underwriting-free access the federal trial right alone would not provide. The broadest category is the annual switching window, often called a birthday rule: California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia each run one, Delaware's window opens before the birthday rather than on it, and Washington lets a policyholder switch year-round with no annual window at all. The terms differ sharply, including whether you may change plan letters or insurers, whether an age limit applies, and how long the window stays open, so your own state's rule is the one that matters. The Oklahoma Insurance Department separately names Oregon as a birthday-rule state and names Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington as providing similar annual rights under their own differing rules. Separately, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin standardize Medigap differently from the federal letter-named plans, so "any Medigap policy sold in your state" does not describe an A-through-N menu in those three states,.

State mechanics vary, and some carry their own deadlines and pre-existing-condition rules. Before you assume underwriting applies, confirm your state's protections with your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) or your state insurance department. In New York, for example, that is the Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP); in Connecticut, it is CHOICES.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another anytime?

No. You can switch Advantage plans during the fall Annual Election Period (October 15 to December 7) or make one change during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31), and the Advantage window is one change only, available to people already enrolled in an Advantage plan. Outside those windows you generally need a Special Enrollment Period tied to a qualifying event, such as moving or losing other coverage.

Does the MA trial right give me Medigap automatically?

No. The trial right gives you the right to buy a Medigap policy guaranteed-issue, but you still have to apply, and you have to apply on time: 60 days before to 63 days after your Advantage coverage ends if you are leaving voluntarily, or from the date you receive the notice of termination if the plan ended your enrollment involuntarily. Federal law also conditions the right on submitting evidence of your disenrollment or termination date with the application, so send the letter in with it. The protection is the no-underwriting guarantee, not automatic enrollment.

What happens if I drop Medicare Advantage after my trial year with no qualifying event?

You can still return to Original Medicare during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, but a voluntary switch on its own no longer carries the guaranteed-issue protection for Medigap: an insurer may apply medical underwriting and can deny you or charge more based on your health. Two things can still put you back inside a protected window. Your state may offer broader rights, such as an annual birthday-rule window; and the federal guaranteed-issue list covers other events on their own clocks, including your plan leaving Medicare or your area, a significant network change, a move out of the service area, an employer or retiree plan ending, a Medigap insurer going bankrupt, or a plan that broke the rules or misled you.

Can I get my old Medigap policy back after trying Advantage?

If you dropped a specific Medigap policy to try Advantage for the first time and you return to Original Medicare within 12 months, you can get that same policy back, provided the same insurance company still sells it. If that insurer no longer sells it, you are not left to medical underwriting: the 2026 CMS Medigap guide states you may then buy Plan A, B, C, D, F, or G sold by an insurance company in your state, with Plans D and G in place of the closed Plans C and F if you were new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. The same fallback applies whether you left Medigap for an Advantage plan or for a Medicare SELECT policy. Your state may add rights beyond that, so your State Insurance Department or your SHIP is worth a call either way.

Does the trial right cover PACE, not just Medicare Advantage?

Yes. The first-time trial right applies if you joined either a Medicare Advantage plan or a PACE program when first eligible for Medicare Part A at 65 and switch to Original Medicare within 12 months, and it entitles you to any Medigap policy sold by an insurance company in your state. PACE also counts on the other side of the second trial right: the statute reaches someone who dropped a Medigap policy to enroll for the first time in a PACE program, a Part C plan, or a Medicare cost plan.

Learn More

MedicareWhat Is Medicare? Parts A, B, C, and D explainedWhat is Medicare? A plain guide to Parts A, B, C, and D, who qualifies, 2026 costs, when to enroll, and what it doesn't cover, with help-paying options. MedicareOriginal Medicare vs. Medicare AdvantageCompare original Medicare vs Medicare Advantage on cost, networks, the $9,250 cap, and switching back. A neutral 2026 side-by-side to help you choose. MedicareMedigap (Medicare Supplement) explainedMedigap (Medicare Supplement) explained: how the standardized A-N plans work, Plan G vs Plan N, closed C and F plans, and the 6-month guaranteed-issue window. MedicareMedigap guaranteed-issue rights: when an insurer must sell you a policyMedigap guaranteed issue rights are federal situations where an insurer must sell you a policy, no health questions. See the triggers and the 63-day deadline. MedicareMedicare enrollment periods and the late penaltiesWhen to sign up for Medicare without a lifelong penalty: the 7-month Initial Enrollment Period, working past 65, the GEP, and what each late penalty costs.

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The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.