Newsroom · San Diego County, California

Is Sharp Direct Advantage Ending for CalPERS Retirees in 2027?

Two groups of San Diegans carry a card that says Sharp Direct Advantage, and this month only one of them got a letter. If you retired from the State of California, a city, a county, a school district or another CalPERS employer and you chose Sharp through CalPERS, the answer is in CalPERS's own 2027 rate sheets. Here is what they say, what they do not, and how to tell which Sharp plan you are actually on.

Medicare On Main Data Desk

Published October 8, 2026 · 8 min read · Reviewed by Brian Penner

This is the seventh post in our series on Sharp Direct Advantage ending. The exit itself is in is Sharp Direct Advantage ending in 2027?, and the week's posts cover the 22 plans leaving San Diego County, keeping your Sharp doctors, Medigap without health questions in California, the side-by-side with UHC Sharp Medicare Advantage and what happens if you do nothing. This one answers the question that has come up in nearly every one of those conversations: "but my neighbor is a state retiree on Sharp and she didn't get a letter." She probably should not have. The plan is being discontinued for individual members; carrier and health-system names here are factual reporting, not a recommendation.

What CalPERS's 2027 rate sheets say

CalPERS publishes its health premiums twice: a preliminary document in June, which its Board then approves, and regional rate sheets effective January 1. Both are on calpers.ca.gov and both carry a Sharp Direct Advantage row for 2027. The June 2026 preliminary document, section 2.2, "Medicare Single-Party Premiums Per Subscriber Per Month," lists Sharp Direct Advantage at $291.38 for 2026 and $320.22 for 2027. The Region 2 rate sheet, "Effective Date: January 1, 2027," covering San Diego and eleven other counties, repeats $320.22 under "Medicare (M) Advantage Monthly Premiums" with plan code 024, and 026 for the version with dental. And CalPERS's July 14 announcement of the approved rates lists "Sharp Direct Advantage HMO" at a 9.90% change, against a 0.51% weighted average for all of its Medicare plans. The same document's section 3, "Board of Administration Recommended and Approved Changes," removes two UnitedHealthcare Basic plans and adds Sutter Health Plan; it says nothing about removing Sharp.

Source: CalPERS, Preliminary 2027 Health Premiums (June 2026), § 2.2, read October 8, 2026. Premiums are per subscriber per month before any employer contribution; the Kaiser out-of-state variants are omitted. State and public-agency employer contributions differ, so the amount deducted from a pension is lower than the figure shown for most retirees. Listing a plan is not a recommendation.

The Region 2 sheet adds the party tiers, which is what a couple actually pays:

Source: CalPERS, 2027 Regional Health Premiums, Region 2, effective January 1, 2027. The combination rate applies when one person in the household is on the Basic (non-Medicare) Sharp Performance Plus plan and another is on the Medicare plan; CalPERS requires both to be with the same carrier.

Why the CalPERS plan is not in the CMS file, and why that is normal

Every post this week has rested on one fact: Sharp Health Plan's contract H5386 has no row in the CMS 2027 landscape file. That is true, and it is the right test for the individual plans. It is the wrong test for the CalPERS plan, because the landscape file only lists plans a member of the public can buy. Employer and union group plans, which CMS numbers in the 800 series, are not in it in any year; the 2026 file contains zero 800-series rows for any insurer in the country. The place the CalPERS plan does show up is CMS's monthly enrollment file, whose contract table lists H5386-801 "Sharp Direct Advantage Calendar Year (HMO)" with the employer-group flag set, alongside -802 and -803. In September 2026 that plan had 2,450 members in San Diego County. The four individual plans had 17,247.

So two statements are true at once. Sharp Health Plan is leaving the individual Medicare Advantage market in San Diego County, and Sharp Health Plan is continuing a group Medicare Advantage plan for CalPERS retirees. Sharp's own accepted-plans page says both things in the same breath: "Sharp Health Plan offers group Medicare Advantage retiree plans for certain employers," and, of the individual plans, "Sharp accepts these plans through the end of 2026." The one caution worth repeating is Sharp's own: its CalPERS page notes that "Enrollment with Sharp Health Plan depends on contract renewal." CalPERS has published the 2027 rate, which is the strongest public signal there is, and we have not found any CalPERS or Sharp notice withdrawing it. If one appears, this post will say so.

Which Sharp Direct Advantage are you on?

The name on the card does not settle it. The way you enrolled does.

Sources: Sharp Health Plan, Sharp Direct Advantage for CalPERS retirees; CMS September 2026 enrollment file (plan numbers); 42 CFR § 422.506 (the 90-day letter); CalPERS (Open Enrollment dates); Medicare.gov, Joining a plan; Medicare.gov, Medigap guaranteed-issue rights.

Three quick checks if you are still unsure. First, the premium: if Sharp has been costing you $0 or $62 a month on top of Part B, you are on an individual plan; the CalPERS plan has always carried a premium, $291.38 this year before the employer share. Second, the paperwork: CalPERS members get a CalPERS Health Benefits statement and enroll through myCalPERS, not through Medicare.gov or an agent. Third, the letter itself: a non-renewal notice under 42 CFR § 422.506 goes to enrollees of the plan being non-renewed, and the CalPERS plan is not being non-renewed. If you hold the CalPERS plan and a non-renewal letter arrived anyway, call CalPERS at 1-888-CALPERS before you do anything; a letter sent to the wrong group is a question for them, not for us.

If you are a CalPERS retiree on the CalPERS plan

Your decision this year is the ordinary CalPERS one, and its deadline is tomorrow, not December 7. CalPERS Open Enrollment for the 2027 plan year runs September 14 through October 9, 2026, and "Premiums will take effect January 1, 2027." Inside that window you can stay on Sharp Direct Advantage at $320.22, or move to another CalPERS Medicare plan available in San Diego County: the rate sheet lists Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage and Senior Advantage Summit, UnitedHealthcare Group Medicare Advantage PPO, Blue Shield Medicare, and the PERS Gold and PERS Platinum Medicare Supplement plans. Each has its own network, its own drug coverage and its own 2027 Evidence of Coverage, and the rate sheet carries none of that; the premium is the only number it holds. Sharp's eligibility conditions still apply: Parts A and B, a CalPERS retiree or Medicare-eligible dependent, and San Diego County residency. If you move out of the county, the CalPERS Sharp plan ends with the move.

Two things we would not do. We would not assume the 2027 benefits are the 2026 benefits; Sharp's CalPERS page still links 2026 documents, and the 2027 Summary of Benefits and Evidence of Coverage are the only place the copays live. And we would not confuse the CalPERS plan's 9.90% premium increase with a reason to leave it; the comparison that matters is the whole 2027 cost of each CalPERS option for your doctors and prescriptions, and CalPERS, not an outside agent, is where that enrollment happens.

If you are a CalPERS retiree on an individual Sharp plan

Some retirees never enrolled through CalPERS. They waived CalPERS health coverage, or were not eligible for it, and bought Sharp Direct Advantage Gold, Platinum, VIP or VIP Plus directly, because it was a $0-premium plan with a $2,900 cap and the Sharp network they already used. For them the October 2 letter is real and the CalPERS rate sheet does not help. Whether a retiree in that position can enroll in the CalPERS plan now depends on CalPERS's own eligibility rules, which are not something we can read from the outside; ask CalPERS directly, and ask this week, because CalPERS Open Enrollment closes October 9. If the answer is no, the three doors are the same as for every other individual member, and each has a post: keeping your Sharp doctors (the UnitedHealthcare plans Sharp accepts, and Original Medicare with no network), Medigap with no health questions through March 4, and what January 1 looks like if you do nothing. The San Diego County reference page lists every plan that left and every plan that arrived for 2027.

What I would do this week

1. Find out how you enrolled. A CalPERS statement or myCalPERS login means the CalPERS plan; a $0 or $62 premium and a Medicare non-renewal letter means an individual plan.
2. CalPERS plan: decide by October 9. Stay at $320.22 or move to another CalPERS Medicare option, using the 2027 documents, not the 2026 ones. Nothing about the individual exit requires you to act.
3. Individual plan and a CalPERS retiree: call CalPERS first, also by October 9, to ask whether you can enroll in the CalPERS plan. Then, if not, work Medicare's calendar: December 7 for a January 1 start, March 4 for Medigap with no health questions.
4. Either way, keep every letter. The Medigap right for individual members requires proof the plan ended; the CalPERS member's proof of continued coverage is the 2027 CalPERS confirmation.

How we know all this: the Medicare On Main Data Desk frames every article with public data — here, CalPERS's June 2026 Preliminary 2027 Health Premiums document and its 2027 Region 2 rate sheet (both downloaded October 8, 2026), CalPERS's July 14, 2026 rate announcement, Sharp Health Plan's CalPERS page and Sharp HealthCare's accepted-plans page as read October 8, 2026, the text of 42 CFR § 422.506, the CMS CY2026 and CY2027 landscape files, and the CMS September 2026 contract and enrollment files. Medicare On Main is not affiliated with CalPERS, Sharp Health Plan or Sharp HealthCare and does not sell the CalPERS plan; carrier and health-system names are factual reporting, not endorsement or criticism; "the plan is being discontinued" describes the CMS file, not a judgment; nothing here is a recommendation. CalPERS premiums shown are before employer contributions, which vary. This is education, not advice; confirm CalPERS eligibility, premiums and benefits with CalPERS, and Medicare plans, costs and eligibility with the plan, a licensed agent, HICAP or Medicare.gov. We take no payment from any carrier to feature a plan.