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Toni,

When I turned 65 in 2024, I enrolled into a Medicare Supplement Plan G, which increased its premium. I made a mistake by changing to a Medicare Advantage PPO during last year’s Medicare Open Enrollment time. Friends said that a PPO plan was like being enrolled in a Medicare Supplement with a prescription drug plan.

I should not have listened to them and now I want out! Most specialists and MRI facilities are out of network, and the PPO plan is costing me a fortune. I’ve been advised by my primary care office manager to return to Traditional Medicare. Is Traditional Medicare something different from Original Medicare? Please tell me how I can just return to Medicare.

Thanks,

Sybil from Orlando, Fla.

Hi Sybil:

You will be happy to know that “Original” Medicare and “Traditional” Medicare are the same thing, but the medical profession often refers to Medicare as “Traditional” Medicare. Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period (OEP) from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 will be your only time to make that change from your Medicare Advantage PPO plan to a Medicare Supplement. There is a process that you will have to go through.

Sybil, the best way for you to disenroll from a Medicare Advantage plan, whether it is an HMO or a PPO like what you are currently using, is to enroll in a Medicare Prescription Drug plan that fits your needs. You will then automatically be out of your old Medicare Advantage PPO plan and enrolled into Original/Traditional Medicare with a Medicare Prescription Drug plan. There is one very important provision: You must have qualified for a Medicare Supplement with health underwriting before enrolling in the new Medicare Part D plan to disenroll you from the Medicare Advantage PPO Plan.

Since you enrolled in your Medicare Advantage plan during 2025’s Medicare OEP and have been enrolled in Medicare for longer than six months, then you are out of Medicare’s Special Medigap Supplement six-month enrollment period, when one does not have to answer health questions to enroll in a new Medicare Supplement.

What happens if you have health issues that can keep you from qualifying medically for a new Medicare Supplement when you have a Medicare Advantage plan? Don’t worry – for those in this situation there is protection available within specific time limits. The information is explained in the Medicare guide titled “Choosing a Medigap Policy” at www.medicare.gov/publications/02110-choosing-a-medigap-policy.pdf, where it can be downloaded.

Your situation, Sybil, is outlined on page 18 of the Medigap Policy guide: “You dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage Plan for the first time, you’ve been in the plan less than a year, and you want to repurchase the Medigap policy. ( Trial right ).” My suggestion to you, Sybil, is to contact the issuer of the Medicare Supplement that you canceled and ask if you are in your less-than-12-month window, in which case you can return to the Medigap policy you were originally enrolled in.

If you are not in the special window to change, then a Medicare Advantage plan will be your only option. It could be possible that your providers and medical facilities are in your area’s Medicare Advantage HMO, but you may have to change providers if you remain with the Medicare Advantage PPO.

Remember … with Medicare, what you don’t know WILL hurt you!

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Toni King is an author and columnist on Medicare, Social Security and long-term care issues. She has spent nearly 30 years as a top sales leader in the field. If you have a Medicare question, email info@tonisays.com or call 832-519-8664. Sign up for the Toni Says newsletter at www.tonisays.com to keep up to date on Medicare changes.

©2026 Toni King. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Copyright 2026 Toni King, Distributed by Counterpoint Media