Maryland members of an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan can buy a Medigap supplement without a health review when the plan ends, but only inside a window that opens 60 days before coverage stops and closes 63 days after. Aetna is leaving Maryland’s Medicare Advantage market entirely for 2027, according to a Maryland market report published Oct. 11, so that clock starts running for its members this fall.
Aetna’s exit and the 68-to-63 count
Becker’s Payer, citing federal plan data, reported on Oct. 1 that Aetna is exiting Maryland and New Hampshire for 2027 while pulling standard plans from 123 counties nationwide. Aetna had already shrunk to three Maryland counties for 2026, the Maryland report says, and members should have received a notice that the plan will not be offered in 2027.
The plan count in the headline is last year’s change. The same report says Maryland went from 68 Medicare Advantage plans in 2025 to 63 in 2026 and expects the number to fall again. It does not say whether the figure counts plan variants or counties, and neither source gives a 2027 total.
What the Medigap right is worth
Ordinarily a Medigap insurer can look at health history and refuse or raise the price. Medicare.gov says that when a plan leaves Medicare or stops covering the member’s area, the member has the right to buy any Medigap policy sold in the state.
An application can go in starting 60 days before the Advantage plan’s coverage ends and no later than 63 days after it ends, and the right can last longer in some circumstances. For a plan ending Dec. 31, that means applying between early November and early March.
The question for each Aetna member in Maryland is concrete. Anyone who wants to leave Advantage for Original Medicare has to apply for the supplement inside that window, and anyone who wants another Advantage plan has to choose it by Dec. 7. The right to a Medigap policy applies only to a switch to Original Medicare, not to a move to another Advantage plan.
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Two ways forward, two different clocks
Open enrollment runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and Medicare.gov says the new plan must get the request by Dec. 7 for coverage to begin Jan. 1. A member whose plan is ending is not limited to that window, because losing coverage is one of the situations Medicare lists as opening a special enrollment period, with timing that varies.
Medigap does not run on the open enrollment calendar. It has its own, tied to the date coverage ends. Medigap coverage also cannot begin until the Advantage plan has ended, and Medicare.gov advises keeping the plan’s letters and notices as proof that coverage ended. Medicare.gov adds that anyone who picks no other Advantage plan during open enrollment is moved to Original Medicare automatically.
Who is left in Maryland
The Maryland report names CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield as the most established Advantage carrier, with Kaiser Permanente, Hopkins Health Advantage and UnitedHealthcare among the options, and Humana having dropped its dual special needs plans in Baltimore City and four counties in 2026. It puts Maryland’s Advantage enrollment at about 295,000, or roughly 27 percent of Medicare recipients, against about half nationally.
Because only about a quarter of Maryland beneficiaries use Advantage, the Original Medicare and Medigap path is common here. The report also describes a state hospital-rate arrangement, in effect since January, that lets qualifying plans pay hospitals about 11.55 percent less than the standard rate, which affects which networks the remaining carriers can offer.
Does the supplement beat another Advantage plan?
The cost split is the main decision. A Medigap policy adds a monthly premium on top of Part B and a separate drug plan, in return for fewer surprise bills. An Advantage plan usually has a lower premium but uses a network. Prices vary by age and plan letter, so quotes from several insurers are worth collecting before the 63-day window shuts.
Guaranteed issue means the insurer cannot refuse the application. It does not mean every insurer charges the same, and Medicare.gov notes that outside the protected window the price may reflect past or present health problems.
Is a supplement open to Aetna members after the plan ends?
An Aetna member who misses the 63-day window can still apply for a Medigap policy, but the insurer may then look at health history and decline or raise the price. That detail is easy to miss when the plan ending feels like a Dec. 7 problem only.
“The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit” includes “Medigap guaranteed-issue rights when a Medicare Advantage plan leaves or you return to Original Medicare, with a call script.” Its Medigap and IRMAA checkpoints sit beside a three-year cost model, so a supplement quote can be set against the Advantage alternative before the window closes.
Get the Medigap rights call script in the decision kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
