Last week, people in Washington who get their Medicare Advantage coverage through Kaiser Permanente received a seemingly worrisome letter in the mail.

"Your Medicare plan won't be offered in 2026," it warned. "This means your coverage through Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington will end December 31, 2025." (The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington is one of Kaiser Permanente's insurance providers in the state.)

More than 130,000 people across 15 counties in Washington get Medicare Advantage coverage through Kaiser, according to the nonprofit insurance network.

Seattle resident Jerry Stanton, 77, is one of them.

"I was stunned," he said. Stanton and his wife have been enrolled in Medicare through Kaiser 2019. "The care has been excellent."

Based on the notice's stark language, the couple feared the worst: that they wouldn't be able to get Medicare Advantage through Kaiser anymore. As it turns out, the reality is far more reassuring.

In 2026, Kaiser will offer Medicare coverage in all of the Washington counties where it currently operates, according to Linnae Riesen, Kaiser's senior manager of public relations.

While the insurer will close some of Advantage plans, it will continue to offer others, including some that closely resemble existing coverage.

For instance, Stanton is currently enrolled in an "essential" plan, which charges a premium of $99 a month. Next year, Kaiser will still offer a nearly identical "essential" plan, with slight adjustments to premiums and fees.

The apparent contradiction there left Stanton and hundreds of others scratching their heads. Why would Kaiser warn members of a plan's termination, only to give them the option to reenroll in similar coverage?

The answer is technical: Private insurers that offer Medicare Advantage have to submit their plans to the federal government every year. Each plan has its own identification code.

If an insurer chooses to submit a plan under the same identification code as the year prior, then coverage for existing members remains the same. They don't need to do anything to maintain coverage.

But insurers, for whatever reason, might make the business decision to file plans under new identification codes. This back-end change requires plan members to actively reenroll, even just to end up with what appears to be similar coverage.

"People are struggling to reconcile this very threatening letter with this very modest change, said Tim Smolen, who manages a state program that provides people with health insurance advice. His team has been fielding calls about the Kaiser notice all week. He emphasized that the language used in Kaiser's letter is mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicare.

Many enrollees are relieved when they realize that they can still get Medicare Advantage through Kaiser in 2026, despite having to take a few extra steps.

Stanton plans to reenroll with Kaiser next year, through a plan bearing the same name as his old one and offering coverage that matches it as well.

According to Smolen, reenrollment should not be affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown.

But for many, the process can still be challenging due to technological barriers. Smolen urges anyone who needs guidance to reach out to his office, known as the Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors.

Open enrollment for Medicare begins Oct. 15.

©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.