Got a Letter Saying Your HMSA Medicare Plan Is Ending? Here’s What to Do Next

If you’re one of the roughly 16,000 HMSA members who opened a letter this month saying your Akamai Advantage plan is ending, take a breath. You have time to make a good choice, but you do need to make one.

The short version: choose a new plan by December 7 and your coverage continues on January 1 with no gap.

What HMSA is changing for 2027

HMSA is discontinuing two Medicare Advantage PPO plans on December 31, 2026:

• Akamai Advantage Complete Plus (Oahu)
• Akamai Advantage Standard Plus (Hawaii Island, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Kauai)

HMSA has said it will offer plans for 2027 with similar benefits, but at higher monthly premiums. You won’t be moved into one automatically. If you want to stay with HMSA, you have to choose and enroll in a 2027 plan yourself.

HMSA pointed to rising health care costs, lower federal funding, and the loss of federal bonus payments after its Medicare star rating dropped. (HMSA isn’t alone here: several national insurers are cutting Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 too.)

What happens if you do nothing

This is the part that matters most. If you don’t pick a new plan, on January 1, 2027 you’ll have Original Medicare (Parts A and B) only. That means:

• No prescription drug coverage. If you go 63 days or more without drug coverage, you may also owe a Part D late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Medicare.
• No yearly cap on what you pay. Original Medicare generally covers 80% of Part B services, and the other 20% has no limit.
• No extras. Dental, vision, and hearing benefits from your Akamai plan stop.

Your deadlines

• October 15 to December 7, 2026: Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period. Choose a new plan in this window and it starts January 1, with no gap.
• December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027: Because your plan is ending, you get a Special Enrollment Period to choose a new one. Enroll after December 31, though, and your new coverage starts the following month, which leaves you uncovered in between.
• Medicare Supplement guaranteed issue rights: Because HMSA is ending your plan, federal rules give you a limited window to buy certain Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans without answering health questions. This window usually opens 60 days before your plan ends and closes 63 days after.

Our advice: don’t wait for the December rush. The best time to compare is while you still have every option open.

Your three main options

1. Stay with HMSA in a different 2027 plan

This keeps you with a familiar carrier and the Blue Cross network when you travel. Compare the new premium, the maximum out-of-pocket, and whether your doctors are in network before you assume it’s the same plan you had.

2. Switch to a Medicare Advantage plan from another carrier

Other carriers offer Medicare Advantage plans in Hawaii for 2027, some with lower premiums. The trade-offs usually show up in the provider network, drug coverage, and what you pay when you need care.

3. Move to Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement and a Part D plan

You’ll pay a higher monthly premium, but your costs are more predictable, and you can see any provider who accepts Medicare, including on the mainland. Thanks to your guaranteed issue rights, this may be the easiest chance you’ll get to buy a Medicare Supplement plan without health questions.

What to check before you choose

Bring these to any plan comparison, with us or anyone else:

1. Your doctors and specialists. Are they in the new plan’s network?
2. Your prescriptions. Are they covered, and at what tier?
3. Your worst-case year. Add the yearly premium to the maximum out-of-pocket. That’s your real ceiling.
4. Your travel. Do you spend time on the mainland or on other islands?
5. The extras you use. Dental, vision, hearing aids, and fitness benefits vary a lot from plan to plan.

How Archetype Insurance can help

Archetype Insurance Agency is an independent Medicare brokerage based in Honolulu. Our Plan Change Review walks you through your options before your plan ends, at no cost to you.

• We review your current plan, whatever carrier it’s with. Bring your HMSA letter (or any plan change letter you’ve received).
• We compare it side by side with plans from the carriers we work with, across Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Part D prescription drug plans.
• We check your doctors and prescriptions against each option, so you see what you’d actually pay in a year.
• We tell you plainly if staying with HMSA is your best fit.

Then we help you enroll, so your new coverage is in place for January 1.

Call 866-504-5507 (9 AM to 6 PM HST) or book your Plan Change Review at aep.archetypeinsurance.com.

Frequently asked questions

Will HMSA move me into a new plan automatically?

No. Members of Akamai Advantage Complete Plus and Standard Plus need to choose a 2027 plan themselves. If you don’t, you’ll have Original Medicare without drug coverage on January 1, 2027.

Can I stay with HMSA?

Yes. HMSA is offering Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. You just have to enroll in one, and premiums are higher than they were for 2026.

Can I keep my doctors?

It depends on the plan. Network rules differ between PPO and HMO plans, and between carriers, so check every doctor you see before you enroll.

What if I’ve had health issues? Can I still get a Medicare Supplement?

Because your plan is ending, you have guaranteed issue rights for a limited time. During that window, insurers must sell you certain Medicare Supplement plans without health questions.

Does a Plan Change Review cost anything?

No. There’s no cost to you for our review or our help enrolling.

I’m not with HMSA, but my plan is changing too. Can you help?

Yes. Every Medicare plan’s benefits and costs can change each year, so we review plans from any carrier during the Annual Enrollment Period.

Sources: West Hawaii Today (Honolulu Star-Advertiser), “HMSA revamping Medicare Advantage plans,” October 5, 2026; Honolulu Civil Beat, “HMSA’s Medicare Changes Could Increase Costs For Thousands,” October 2026.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.

Not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.