DC Medicare Supplement: Open Enrollment and Your Rights (2026)

A DC Medicare Supplement (Medigap) application can't be denied or priced on your health if you apply in the six months that start when you're both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.1 The District's Medigap open enrollment rule comes from the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), Title 26-A §2210.1, and it covers every Medigap policy an insurer has available for sale in the District.1 After that window closes, DCMR §2209 gives people who lose certain coverage a guaranteed issue right, generally 63 days after the coverage ends, as long as they send proof of the termination date with the application.1 The D.C. Code adds a 30-day free look that starts when the policy is delivered.1

In This Guide

• When Does the District's Medigap Open Enrollment Window Start?
• Can an Insurer Make You Wait for a Pre-Existing Condition?
• When Must a DC Insurer Sell You a Medigap Policy After Open Enrollment Ends?
• What Proof Do You Need for a Guaranteed Issue Right?
• What Rights Do You Have After You Buy?
• Can You Switch Medigap Policies in Washington, DC Without a New Waiting Period?
• Should You Choose Medigap or Medicare Advantage in the District?
• What Are DC's Medicare Supplement Deadlines at a Glance?
• Where Can You Get Medicare Supplement Help in DC?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

When Does the District's Medigap Open Enrollment Window Start?

Washington, DC's Medigap open enrollment window needs two conditions at once. DCMR §2210.1 protects an application submitted before or during the six-month period that begins on the first day of the first month in which the applicant is both 65 or older and enrolled for benefits under Medicare Part B.1 During that District window, an issuer may not deny or condition a Medicare Supplement policy, or charge more for it, because of the applicant's health status, claims experience, receipt of health care or medical condition.1

For a District resident who is already 65 and whose Part B starts on March 1, the six months run March through August. An application sent in before March also counts, because §2210.1 covers applications submitted "prior to or during" the period.1

DCMR §2210.2 widens what's on the shelf for a qualifying applicant. Under §2210.2, each Medicare Supplement policy and certificate an insurer currently has available in the District must be made available to every applicant who qualifies under §2210.1, "without regard to age."1 Age isn't among the four grounds the §2210.1 pricing bar lists, so a District applicant should still compare quotes from several insurers; Brevy's guide to how Medigap premiums are priced explains the rating methods.

The federal rule lines up with the District's. Section 1882 of the Social Security Act, subsection (s)(2)(A), starts the federal six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period with the first month a person is 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.2 Medicare.gov says the Medigap Open Enrollment Period is a one-time window that doesn't repeat every year, and that outside it an insurer is allowed to deny a policy to someone who doesn't meet its medical underwriting requirements.2 Brevy's Medigap open enrollment guide covers the federal window in more depth.

If you're under 65 and have Medicare because of a disability or End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), the District's §2210.1 text is written for applicants who are 65 or older and in Part B.1 Medicare.gov says federal law generally doesn't require insurance companies to sell Medigap policies to people under 65, although insurers in some states do offer them.2 A District resident under 65 should ask DC SHIP, the District's free State Health Insurance Assistance Program at the DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL), or the District's Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) what Medigap options apply before assuming either way.3,4

Can an Insurer Make You Wait for a Pre-Existing Condition?

In Washington, DC, a Medigap buyer's pre-existing condition wait depends on prior coverage and on two separate District rules, one in the regulations and one in the D.C. Code.

• Six months of creditable coverage: Under DCMR §2210.3, if a District applicant who applies during open enrollment has had at least six months of continuous creditable coverage as of the application date, the issuer shall not exclude benefits based on a pre-existing condition.1
• The six-month look-back: Except where §§2210.3 and 2210.4, §2209 (guaranteed issue) and §2227 (replacement) provide otherwise, DCMR §2210.5 allows a District Medigap policy to exclude benefits during its first six months for a condition that was treated or diagnosed in the six months before coverage took effect.1

D.C. Code §31-3703(b) sets the outer limit for any District Medigap policy. A Medicare Supplement policy sold in the District may not exclude or limit benefits for losses incurred more than 6 months after the coverage's effective date because the loss involved a pre-existing condition.1 The same D.C. Code section also bars a policy from defining a pre-existing condition more broadly than a condition for which a physician gave medical advice or recommended or provided treatment within the 6 months before coverage began.1

Brevy's explainer on Medigap and pre-existing conditions shows how these waiting periods play out.

When Must a DC Insurer Sell You a Medigap Policy After Open Enrollment Ends?

DCMR §2209 protects people who lose certain coverage after their open enrollment window has passed. For an eligible person under §2209, a District issuer may not deny or condition certain Medigap policies it offers to new enrollees, may not price them on health status, claims experience, receipt of health care or medical condition, and may not impose a pre-existing condition exclusion.1 Which lettered plans count as those policies depends on the situation, so check Brevy's Medigap guaranteed issue guide and confirm with the insurer before you apply.

The situations DCMR §2209.3 lists, in plain language:1

1. Employer supplement ends: You're in an employee welfare benefit plan that supplements Medicare, and the plan terminates or stops providing all of those supplemental benefits to you.
2. Medicare Advantage ends for a listed reason: Your Medicare Advantage plan's certification ends or the plan stops serving the area where you live, you're no longer eligible because you moved or had another specified change, or the organization substantially violated its contract or materially misrepresented the plan in marketing. The same applies to someone 65 or older in a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
3. Another Medicare plan ends: Enrollment in a Medicare cost plan, a similar demonstration, a health care prepayment plan or a Medicare SELECT policy ends under the same circumstances that would let you leave a Medicare Advantage plan.
4. Your Medigap policy ends through no fault of yours: The issuer becomes insolvent, the coverage is otherwise involuntarily terminated, or the issuer substantially violated the policy or materially misrepresented it.
5. A first try at Medicare Advantage: You dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage or similar plan for the first time, and you end that enrollment within the first 12 months.
6. Medicare Advantage at 65: When you first became eligible for Part A at 65, you joined a Medicare Advantage plan, and you disenroll no later than 12 months after the enrollment took effect.
7. A move to Part D: You enroll in a Medicare Part D plan during your initial enrollment period while holding a Medigap policy that covers outpatient prescription drugs.

How long is a District guaranteed issue period?

A District guaranteed issue application must be submitted no later than 63 days after the date the qualifying enrollment terminates.1 For several of the DCMR §2209 situations, a person who leaves a plan voluntarily gets a guaranteed issue period that begins 60 days before the disenrollment takes effect and ends 63 days after that effective date.1 Because DCMR §2209's 60-day lead time applies only when the person disenrolls voluntarily in one of those situations, someone who chooses to leave a qualifying plan can apply for a Medigap policy before that coverage ends.1

What Proof Do You Need for a Guaranteed Issue Right?

DCMR §2209.1 defines an eligible person as someone who submits evidence of the date of termination, disenrollment or Medicare Part D enrollment with the Medigap application.1 Without evidence of the termination date, a District applicant doesn't meet the §2209.1 definition of an eligible person.

Medicare's guide Choosing a Medigap Policy lists what to keep:1

• Copies of letters, notices, emails or claim denials that have your name on them as proof that coverage was terminated.
• The postmarked envelope those papers came in, as proof of when they were mailed.

Medicare's guide says you may need to include a copy of some or all of those papers with a Medigap application to prove a guaranteed issue right.1 Store the termination letter and its envelope together the day they arrive.

What Rights Do You Have After You Buy?

D.C. Code §31-3707 requires every Medicare Supplement policy sold in the District to carry a notice, printed prominently on the first page or attached, stating that the buyer may return the policy within 30 days of its delivery and have the premium refunded if not satisfied for any reason.1 Under D.C. Code §31-3707, the issuer must pay that refund directly to the applicant in a timely manner.1 The District's 30 days count from delivery, so note the date the policy reaches you. Federal law sets a parallel floor: Social Security Act §1882(c)(4) lets a Medigap policy be returned for a full premium refund during a period of not less than 30 days after it is issued.5

D.C. Code §31-3705(a) says no Medicare Supplement policy may be delivered in the District unless an outline of coverage was delivered to the applicant when the application was made.1 Ask for the outline before you sign and keep it with the policy.

Medicare's guide Choosing a Medigap Policy states that any new Medigap policy issued since 1992 is guaranteed renewable even if you have health problems.1

Can You Switch Medigap Policies in Washington, DC Without a New Waiting Period?

DCMR §2227 protects time already served when one Medigap policy replaces another in the District. The replacing District issuer must waive pre-existing condition periods, waiting periods, elimination periods and probationary periods for similar benefits, to the extent that time was spent under the original policy.1 Under DCMR §2227, if the original District Medigap policy had been in effect for at least six months, the replacing policy may not impose any pre-existing condition, waiting, elimination or probationary period for similar benefits.1 Federally, Social Security Act §1882(s)(2)(C) likewise bars a replacement Medigap policy from imposing any pre-existing condition, waiting, elimination or probationary period for similar benefits once the policy it replaces has been in effect for 6 months or longer.5

DCMR §2227 credits time; it doesn't create a right to buy. Medicare.gov says that in most cases you won't be able to switch Medigap policies outside your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period except in specific situations when you have a guaranteed issue right, and that switching outside that period may mean paying more and answering medical questions.5 Medicare.gov also warns that if you drop a Medigap policy, you might not be able to get it or any policy back later.5 Medicare's guide adds that a person switching Medigap policies has 30 days to decide whether to keep the new one and will pay both premiums for the month they hold both.1 Keep the old policy until the new one is approved.

Should You Choose Medigap or Medicare Advantage in the District?

Medigap works only with Original Medicare. Medicare's booklet Understanding Medicare Advantage Plans says Medigap is extra insurance from a private company that helps pay your share of Original Medicare costs, and that you can't use Medigap to pay Medicare Advantage copayments, coinsurance, deductibles or premiums.6 Medicare's Medicare Advantage booklet also says it's illegal for anyone to sell you a Medigap policy while you're in a Medicare Advantage plan unless you're switching back to Original Medicare, and that a seller who tries should be reported to your State Insurance Department.6

Dropping Medigap for Medicare Advantage carries a risk: Medicare's booklet says that in most cases, if you drop a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan, you may not be able to get the same policy back.6 The federal "trial right" limits that risk for first-timers. Someone who joins a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time has a trial right to buy a Medigap policy and a separate Medicare drug plan if they return to Original Medicare within 12 months of joining.6 In the District, DCMR §2209.3 gives a guaranteed issue right to someone who dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time and ends that enrollment within the first 12 months, and to someone who joined a Medicare Advantage plan on first becoming eligible for Part A at 65 and disenrolls within 12 months of the enrollment's effective date.1 Brevy's guide to Medicare Advantage trial rights walks through the return step by step.

Medigap plans are standardized by letter. Medicare's 2026 guide charts Plans A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N, and says every insurance company that sells Medigap policies must offer at least Plan A.1 For the two most-compared letters, see Brevy's Plan G vs Plan N comparison.

What Are DC's Medicare Supplement Deadlines at a Glance?

The table condenses the DCMR Chapter 26-A22 and D.C. Code Chapter 37 rules described above, plus the District's complaint line.1,4

Where Can You Get Medicare Supplement Help in DC?

Free counseling before you buy or switch. DC SHIP, the District's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), is a service of DACL that gives Medicare beneficiaries, families and caregivers living in the District free health insurance counseling.3 DC SHIP counselors help District residents compare and select Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement (Medigap) and Part D plans, and screen for Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help.3 Reach DC SHIP at (202) 727-8370 or ship.dacl@dc.gov, or see DACL's health insurance counseling page.3

A problem with an insurer or agent. The District's Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) handles health insurance complaints, including coverage issues, claim disputes, premium problems, sales misrepresentations, policy cancellations and refunds, and it also investigates complaints against insurance producers, brokers and agents.4 DISB's Consumer Services Division takes complaints at disbcomplaints@dc.gov, by phone at (202) 727-8000, by fax at (202) 354-1085, or by mail to 1050 First St. NE, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20002, and DISB also has an online complaint page.4 DISB says a DC resident, or someone whose insurance contract was executed in the District, should file with DISB.4

Federal Medicare questions. 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) connects callers with a real person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays; TTY users call 1-877-486-2048.7

If money is the reason you're weighing Medigap at all, Brevy's DC Medicare Savings Programs guide covers the District's help with Medicare costs.

Learn More

Find personalized help timing and choosing a Medicare Supplement policy in Washington, DC at brevy.com.

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.