Don't wait · San Diego County, California
Sharp Direct Advantage Ends Dec 31: Book Your 2027 Review Now
The October 2 letter is real, the December 31 end date is real, and so is the fix: a fifteen-minute phone call that puts your doctors, your prescriptions and every 2027 door on one page before the enrollment window even opens. Don't wait. Get peace of mind today.
If you are one of the 19,697 Sharp Health Plan members in San Diego County, you already know the news: the four individual Sharp Direct Advantage plans, Gold, Platinum, VIP and VIP Plus, are not in the CMS 2027 file and stop paying claims on December 31, 2026. Over the past week we have written the whole story, from what the file shows to every date through March 4. This post is shorter. It is about the one thing that turns a stressful fall into a calm one: booking the review now, in October, instead of in the crowd.
The bottom line
- Sharp Direct Advantage coverage ends December 31, 2026. The plan pays normally until then; nothing changes before that date.
- October 15 to December 7 is the enrollment window for a January 1 start. December 8 to February 28 is a safety net whose start date slides a month at a time.
- The review does not have to wait for October 15. Doctors, medical group and prescriptions can be checked against the 2027 plans now, so enrollment is a short call once the window opens.
- Medigap without health questions runs November 1 to March 4 under federal rules, and from the day you received the letter under California's.
- We are licensed in California and work by phone. We do not offer every plan available in your area.
Why booking now beats booking in November
There are two steps between you and a January 1 start, and people tend to collapse them into one. The first step is the review: confirming from your card which Sharp plan you held, writing down every doctor and whether they are Sharp Rees-Stealy or Sharp Community Medical Group, listing every prescription with its dose, and running all of it against the 2027 plans on the San Diego shelf. The second step is the enrollment itself, which under Medicare.gov's calendar can happen any day from October 15 to December 7 for a January 1 start. Only the second step has a start date. The first can happen this week.
That matters because of what the calendar does to everyone who waits. Appointment calendars during the Annual Enrollment Period fill with people who received the same October 2 letter you did and put it in a drawer. Booking now means your review happens before the window opens, the enrollment is a short follow-up call in the first weeks of the period, and your confirmation letter is in hand with weeks to spare before December 7. The deadline does not move. Your position relative to it does.
There is a second reason, specific to a discontinued plan. The Special Enrollment Period that 42 CFR § 422.62(b)(1) gives you, December 8 through February 28, is longer than the Annual Enrollment Period but worse: under CMS's 2027 enrollment guidance, a request received in January starts February 1, and a request received in February starts March 1. Every month of delay past December is a month in Original Medicare with no drug coverage and no out-of-pocket cap. We wrote the whole arithmetic in what if I do nothing when Sharp Direct Advantage ends?; the short version is that doing nothing is the most expensive door and the easiest one to walk through by accident.
The three doors, in one paragraph each
Another Medicare Advantage plan. UnitedHealthcare of California continues its Sharp-network HMO-POS plans in San Diego County for 2027, and Blue Shield of California lists four HMOs on the county shelf, two of them new. Nothing moves you into any of them automatically; they are different insurers under different CMS contracts. The side-by-side from the files is in Sharp Direct Advantage vs UHC Sharp Medicare Advantage, the Blue Shield plans are in Blue Shield Medicare Advantage plans in San Diego for 2027, and the full list of what left and what arrived is in which Medicare Advantage plans are ending in San Diego County. The doctor check for either carrier is in can I keep my Sharp doctors?
Original Medicare plus Medigap plus a drug plan. Because your plan is being discontinued, Medicare.gov gives you a guaranteed-issue right to Medigap with no health questions, from November 1, 2026 to March 4, 2027, and California Insurance Code § 10192.12 opens that window the day you received the letter. Medigap works at every Sharp doctor with no network at all. The plan letters, Plan G versus Plan N and the ten California drug plans are in can I get Medigap in California without health questions?
Original Medicare plus a drug plan only. Lowest premium, no network, and no annual cap on your 20% share. It is a legitimate choice for some people and a mistake for others, and the difference is your health and your tolerance for an open-ended year.
One group this post is not for: CalPERS retirees. The CalPERS version of the plan continues for 2027 under the same contract, which we confirmed from CalPERS's own rate sheets in is Sharp Direct Advantage ending for CalPERS retirees? If your card says CalPERS, read that one instead.
What happens on the call
- Which plan you held. Gold, Platinum, VIP or VIP Plus, from your card. The 2027 answer depends on it.
- Your doctors and your medical group. Sharp Rees-Stealy and Sharp Community Medical Group contract separately, and Sharp's accepted-plans page is the starting point, not the finish line. We check each office for 2027.
- Your prescriptions. Every drug with its dose, run against the 2027 plans we offer in San Diego County and against the stand-alone drug plans for the Medigap door.
- The Medigap door, priced beside the Medicare Advantage door. Both on one page, so the choice is between two real numbers and not between a brochure and a guess.
- Your dates, on your calendar. October 15, December 7, December 31 and March 4, plus the day we will talk again to enroll.
Fifteen minutes, by phone, at no cost. Brian Penner has worked with Medicare clients for more than 22 years and is licensed in California. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and we will say so on the call if the right answer for you is a plan we do not carry.
The dates that matter
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| October 2, 2026 | Non-renewal letters dated. California's Medigap guaranteed-issue period begins the day you receive the notice. |
| October 15, 2026 | Annual Enrollment Period opens. Anything chosen now starts January 1. |
| November 1, 2026 | Federal Medigap guaranteed-issue window opens, 60 days before December 31. |
| December 7, 2026 | Annual Enrollment Period closes. The calm deadline for a January 1 start. |
| December 8 to 31, 2026 | Non-renewal Special Enrollment Period begins; requests received by December 31 still start January 1. |
| December 31, 2026 | Last day of Sharp Direct Advantage coverage. |
| January 1, 2027 | New plan starts if you chose one. If you chose nothing, you are in Original Medicare with no drug plan and no cap. |
| February 28, 2027 | Special Enrollment Period closes. A February request starts March 1. |
| March 4, 2027 | Medigap guaranteed-issue window closes, 63 days after December 31. |
Sources: 42 CFR § 422.506 (notice at least 90 days before; letters dated October 2); Medicare.gov, Joining a plan (October 15 to December 7, coverage January 1); CMS CY 2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance § 30.6.10.A (the Special Enrollment Period's sliding start dates); Medicare.gov, When can I buy a Medigap policy? (60 days before to 63 days after); California Insurance Code § 10192.12(c)(2). Plan facts from the CY2026 and CY2027 CMS landscape files and the September 2026 county enrollment file. The full eleven-date version is in when does Sharp Direct Advantage end? Every date to March 4.
What I would do today
- Find the October 2 letter and your plan card. Two pieces of paper; everything else follows from them.
- Book the review for this week or next, using either button on this page. The call happens before October 15, so the enrollment window is spent choosing, not searching.
- Write down your doctors and your prescriptions before the call. Ten minutes at the kitchen table saves a second call.
- Pick a door by the end of October. Enroll in the first weeks of November so the confirmation letter arrives before Thanksgiving and December 7 is a formality.
- If it is already December when you read this, do not wait for January. A request received by December 31 still starts January 1. A request received January 2 starts February 1.
How we know all this: the Medicare On Main Data Desk frames every article with public data — here, the CMS CY2026 and CY2027 Medicare Advantage landscape files matched by contract and plan ID, the CMS September 2026 enrollment file by contract, plan and county, 42 CFR §§ 422.506 and 422.62 as published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the CMS CY 2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance (§ 30.6.10.A), Medicare.gov's Joining a plan, Special Enrollment Periods and When can I buy a Medigap policy? pages, California Insurance Code § 10192.12 and Sharp HealthCare's accepted-plans page, all read October 5 through October 8, 2026 for this series. Dates are arithmetic on those rules for a plan ending December 31, 2026. This page makes no claim about appointment availability, slot counts or wait times; the urgency is the calendar itself. Carrier, plan and health-system names are factual reporting, not endorsement; the plan is being discontinued and no member is losing Medicare. This is education, not advice; confirm your own dates with your plan, a licensed agent or Medicare.gov. We take no payment from any carrier to feature a plan.
Frequently asked questions
When does Sharp Direct Advantage end?
December 31, 2026 is the last day of coverage for the four individual Sharp Direct Advantage HMOs: Gold, Platinum, VIP and VIP Plus. They have no row in the CMS 2027 plan file, and the non-renewal letters are dated October 2, 2026, the 90-day notice federal rules require. The plan pays claims normally through December 31. Sharp's hospitals and medical groups are not closing, and you are not losing Medicare; the plan is being discontinued.
What is the deadline to choose a new plan for January 1?
December 7, 2026. Anything you choose during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 to December 7, starts January 1 with no gap. A discontinued plan also gives you a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 through February 28, 2027, but the start date slides: requests received December 8 to 31 still start January 1, January requests start February 1, and February requests start March 1.
Why book a Medicare appointment now instead of waiting for open enrollment?
Because the review and the enrollment are two different steps, and only the second one has to wait for October 15. Booking now means your doctors, medical group and prescriptions are checked against the 2027 plans before the window opens, so the enrollment itself is a short call in the first weeks of the period, and your confirmation letter arrives with weeks to spare before December 7. Appointment calendars during the Annual Enrollment Period fill with everyone else who waited.
What happens if I do nothing when my Sharp plan ends?
On January 1, 2027 you are in Original Medicare. Medicare.gov: "You'll be enrolled in Original Medicare if you don't join another Medicare Advantage Plan before your current plan ends." You keep Part A and Part B but have no drug coverage, no out-of-pocket limit, and the 63-day clock on the Part D late-enrollment penalty starts that day. Nothing moves you automatically into any other plan, including the UnitedHealthcare plans with Sharp in the name.
Can I get a Medigap plan without health questions if Sharp Direct Advantage is ending?
Yes. Medicare.gov gives a person whose Medicare Advantage plan is leaving a guaranteed-issue right to Medigap Plans A, B, D, G, K or L (C or F if you were eligible for Medicare before 2020) with no health questions, from 60 days before to 63 days after the plan ends: November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027. California's own statute opens the window the day you receive the October 2 letter and closes it on the same March 4. Medigap cannot start before January 1 either way, and you would pair it with a stand-alone drug plan.
Does the phone review cost anything, and does Medicare On Main offer every plan?
The review is at no cost and no obligation. Medicare On Main is a licensed independent insurance agency, licensed in California, and works with San Diego County members by phone. We do not offer every plan available in your area; any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer in your area. For all of your options, contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE. We are not affiliated with Sharp Health Plan, Sharp HealthCare, UnitedHealthcare or Blue Shield of California.
Sources
- CMS — CY2026 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip) and CMS — CY2027 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip) — four H5386 rows in San Diego County for 2026, none for 2027.
- CMS — Monthly Enrollment by Contract/Plan/State/County, September 2026 (zip) — 19,697 Sharp Health Plan members in San Diego County across all plans.
- 42 CFR § 422.506 — Nonrenewal of contract; notice to each enrollee at least 90 days before (Cornell LII).
- Medicare.gov — Joining a plan (Open Enrollment Period October 15 – December 7; coverage starts January 1).
- 42 CFR § 422.62(b)(1) — Special Enrollment Period when a plan is discontinued in your area (Cornell LII).
- CMS — CY 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance (PDF; § 30.6.10.A non-renewal SEP effective dates) — "Enrollment requests received from December 8 through December 31 will have an effective date of January 1."
- Medicare.gov — Special Enrollment Periods ("You'll be enrolled in Original Medicare if you don't join another Medicare Advantage Plan before your current plan ends").
- Medicare.gov — When can I buy a Medigap policy? (60 days before to 63 days after your Medicare Advantage plan ends).
- California Insurance Code § 10192.12 — guaranteed issue of Medicare supplement policies; (c)(2) the period begins on receipt of the termination notice (california.public.law mirror).
- Sharp HealthCare — Medicare plans accepted by Sharp in San Diego.
- Medicare Plan Compare (Medicare.gov) — every 2027 plan in San Diego County, with the drug lookup.
