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If you're turned down for Medigap in Washington
A decline from one insurer isn't the end. Washington has more back doors into Medigap than most states. Check them in this order.
1. Do you already have any Medigap plan?
If you have Plan B through N, you can switch to any other Plan B through N at any time, with no health questions. If you have Plan A, you can switch to another Plan A. See switching.
2. Are you in a guaranteed-issue window?
Losing employer coverage, a Medicare Advantage plan leaving your area, or leaving a Medicare Advantage plan within your first year all create a short window, usually 63 days, when insurers must accept you. See guaranteed-issue rights.
3. The HCA Premera plan
The Washington Health Care Authority's Premera Plan G asks no health questions, but you can only join in specific windows, such as within 63 days of losing other coverage or of becoming a Washington resident. See the HCA plan.
4. WSHIP
The Washington State Health Insurance Pool sells a Medicare Supplement plan to people on Medicare who were rejected by a Medigap insurer for health reasons and who don't have a reasonable choice of Medicare Advantage plans.
WSHIP treats these 11 counties as having a reasonable choice: Clark, Cowlitz, Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston and Whatcom. Residents there generally qualify only if their provider isn't in network with at least one available Medicare Advantage plan. In the other 28 counties the bar is lower. Check current rules with WSHIP at 1-888-277-9135 or wship.org.
5. Try another insurer
Insurers write their own underwriting questions. A condition one insurer treats as a decline, another may accept. An agent who knows each insurer's questions can tell you where you're likely to be approved before you apply.