Medicare Advantage
Switching Back to Original Medicare: Trial Rights and When You Can Get Medigap Back
If your first Medicare Advantage plan is a poor fit, a trial right may let you return to Original Medicare within 12 months and buy Medigap with no health questions. Here are the rules and dates.
Key takeaways
- A trial right is a federal right for some people who try a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time.
- You must return to Original Medicare within 12 months of joining the plan.
- With this right, a company must sell you a Medigap policy. It cannot say no due to your health. It cannot charge you more due to your health.
- You can apply for the Medigap policy as early as 60 days before your plan cover ends. You must apply no later than 63 days after it ends.
- The fall window to change plans runs October 15 to December 7 (Ledger B4). Changes start January 1.
- A second window runs January 1 to March 31, 2027 (Ledger B5). It is open only to people who are in a Medicare Advantage plan at that time.
- If you go back to Original Medicare, the Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026 (Ledger A1). The Part B deductible is $283 for the year (Ledger A2).
Some people join a Medicare Advantage plan and soon wish they had not. The doctor they trust is not in the plan. A drug they need costs too much. The plan rules feel like a poor fit. If this is your first year in a plan like this, you may hold a strong right. It is called a trial right. It lets you go back to Original Medicare and buy a Medigap policy with no health questions. This guide explains how that right works, who gets it, and the dates you must not miss. Our Medicare Advantage section holds our other guides for this part of Medicare.
What a trial right is
A trial right is a form of guaranteed issue right. That term means a company must issue the policy to you. In most times of the year, a Medigap company can ask about your health. It can turn you down. It can charge more. With a guaranteed issue right, it can do none of those things for the policies the right covers.
Medicare.gov puts it in plain terms. If you join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time and you are not happy with it, you have a trial right under federal law. You can buy a Medigap policy and a separate drug plan if you return to Original Medicare within 12 months of joining the plan.
The two ways to get a trial right
The first way is the new-to-Medicare path. You joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you were first eligible for Part A at age 65. Within the first year of joining, you decide you want to switch to Original Medicare. In that case you can buy any Medigap policy sold in your state.
The second way is the dropped-Medigap path. You had a Medigap policy. You dropped it to join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time. You have been in the plan for less than a year, and you want to switch back. In that case you can buy back the same Medigap policy you had, if the company still sells it. If that policy is no longer sold, you can buy a Medigap Plan A, B, C*, D*, F*, or G* sold by an insurance company in your state.
Some states give more rights than the federal floor. Your state insurance office can tell you what your state adds.
The dates that decide if the right still holds
Three dates matter most.
Keep proof of when your plan cover ends. Keep copies of letters and notices. A company may ask for that proof with your application.
You still need a window to leave the plan itself. The fall window runs October 15 to December 7, and a change made then starts January 1 (Ledger B4). The January to March window is open only to people in a Medicare Advantage plan (Ledger B5). A move or a lost plan can open a window of its own at other times of year.
- The 12-month date. You must leave the plan and return to Original Medicare within 12 months of joining it. Miss that date and the trial right is gone.
- The 60-day early date. You can apply for your Medigap policy as early as 60 days before your plan cover ends.
- The 63-day late date. You must apply no later than 63 days after your plan cover ends.
What you pay when you go back
Original Medicare has set costs for 2026. The Part B premium is $202.90 a month (Ledger A1). Most people keep paying this premium the whole time, in both kinds of cover. The Part B deductible is $283 for the year (Ledger A2). After you pay it, Medicare pays its share of your care and you pay the rest.
That rest is the gap a Medigap policy fills. Each Medigap plan letter covers a set share of those costs. The premium for the policy itself is set by the company that sells it. Medicare does not set Medigap premiums, so the same plan letter can cost a different amount from one company to the next. Compare quotes for the same letter before you buy.
Our guide on Medicare Advantage open enrollment walks through the fall window step by step. Our guide on Medigap open enrollment and guaranteed issue rights in the Medicare Supplement section explains the six-month window most people get at 65.
Who pays for what
- Original Medicare pays its share of covered care first. You pay the deductible and your share of the cost.
- A Medicare Advantage plan pays for your covered care while you are a member, under its own copays and rules. It stops paying when your membership ends.
- A Medigap policy pays toward your share of Original Medicare costs, based on the plan letter you buy. It does not pay for care Original Medicare does not cover.
- Medicaid can help some people with premiums and costs if they qualify through their state.
- Private pay covers the rest: your Part B premium, your Medigap premium if you buy a policy, and any cost your cover does not pay.
Sample situation
Tom joined a Medicare Advantage plan when he turned 65. It was his first plan of this kind. Four months later, his main doctor left the plan network. Tom checked his dates. He was well inside his first 12 months, so his trial right still held. He applied for a Medigap policy in the weeks before his plan cover ended, inside the 60-day early window. He returned to Original Medicare, and the company sold him the policy with no health questions. His Part B premium stayed $202.90 a month (Ledger A1).
Steps to take if you want to switch back
- Find the date you first joined the plan. Count 12 months from that date.
- Decide which path fits you: new to Medicare, or you dropped a Medigap policy to join.
- Pick the window you will use to leave the plan, and note when the change starts.
- Apply for the Medigap policy no earlier than 60 days before your plan cover ends, and no later than 63 days after it ends. Note that the early limit is 60 days, so time the application with care.
- If you want drug cover, join a separate Medicare drug plan for the same start date.
- Keep copies of every letter, notice, and proof of cover dates.