Albuquerque · Presbyterian plan change for 2027

Presbyterian Medicare Non-Renewal Letter: What It Means for 2027

Two letters are coming this fall, and only one of them asks you to do something. Here is how to recognize the non-renewal notice, what CMS makes it say, and what to do in the week it lands.

By the New Mexico Medicare Help Data Desk

Reviewed by Brian Penner, Independent Medicare advisor — no pressure · Published September 8, 2026

A non-renewal letter means exactly one thing: the Medicare Advantage plan you are in will not be offered next year, and its contract with Medicare ends on the date printed in the letter. For the roughly 30,000 New Mexicans on Presbyterian's standard Medicare Advantage plans, that date is December 31, 2026, following the company's June 2026 announcement that it is discontinuing most of its Medicare Advantage products for 2027 while continuing its Dual Plus D-SNP. The letter does not mean you are losing Medicare, does not mean your doctors are leaving, and does not change anything about your 2026 coverage. What it does is start the clocks: it names your enrollment windows and the last day to choose, and it is the document that gives you a special right to buy a Medicare Supplement policy without health questions.

The announcement: Albuquerque Journal, KOB 4, The Santa Fe New Mexican (June 2026). The mailing: Medicare.gov — when a plan is no longer available in your area.

What does a Medicare Advantage non-renewal letter actually mean?

Every Medicare Advantage plan runs on a one-year contract with Medicare. Each spring, carriers tell CMS which contracts they will renew for the coming year. When a carrier decides not to renew one, the members in that plan have to be told — formally, in writing, on a schedule CMS sets — that the plan will end and that they need to choose something else. That letter is the non-renewal notice. Medicare.gov describes it simply: if your plan is leaving the Medicare program in the coming year, you will get a notice, and you must look for a new plan for coverage next year.

The word "non-renewal" is doing precise work. The plan is not being cancelled mid-year, and nothing about it changes before its end date. Your 2026 copays, your 2026 drug list and your 2026 network all hold through December 31, 2026. What the letter changes is the year after.

When does the letter arrive, and why is it dated October 2?

CMS's Medicare Advantage enrollment and disenrollment guidance requires a non-renewal notice at least 90 calendar days before the date the non-renewal takes effect. For the ordinary case — a contract ending December 31 — the guidance goes further and requires the notice to be dated October 2. The reason is Medigap. Your guaranteed-issue right to buy a Medicare Supplement policy is tied to the plan ending, and CMS wants that right to open and close on the same days for every affected member in the country, rather than depending on which week a given carrier's mail went out.

In practice, expect the letter in your mailbox in the first week of October 2026. Members of Presbyterian's Dual Plus D-SNP should not receive one, because that plan continues — though the same guidance notes special needs plans are handled differently, so a Dual Plus member who does get a letter should read it rather than assume. Medicare itself may also send a separate reminder later in the fall to people whose plan is leaving; Medicare.gov describes that mailing.

Source: CMS — CY 2026 MA and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance (non-renewal notice timing and contents).

What does CMS require the letter to say?

The contents are not up to the carrier. CMS's guidance requires the non-renewal notice to:

1. State that the plan will no longer be offered, and the date it ends. For Presbyterian's standard plans, December 31, 2026.
2. Describe your enrollment periods — the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15, 2026–December 7, 2026) and the non-renewal Special Enrollment Period (December 8, 2026–February 28, 2027) — including the last day you have to make a selection.
3. Explain Medigap and your special right to buy a policy, for members it applies to.
4. Include a Medigap fact sheet with the letter.

That fourth item is why the envelope will be thicker than a normal plan letter, and why you should keep all of it. When you apply for a Medigap policy under a guaranteed-issue right, the insurer may ask for proof that your plan is ending; the notice is that proof. Medicare.gov's timing rule is that you must apply no earlier than 60 days before your coverage ends and no later than 63 days after — for December 31, that window runs from early November 2026 into the first days of March 2027. Our New Mexico guaranteed-issue guide covers which policies must be offered.

Sources: CMS enrollment guidance; CMS — enrollment periods; Medicare.gov — Medigap timing.

How is the non-renewal notice different from the Annual Notice of Change?

Every fall, every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan mails an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by September 30. It is a routine document — next year's premium, copays, drug tiers, benefit changes — and a plan that is ending still sends one. Members on a discontinued plan will therefore get two letters a few days apart that look alike and mean very different things.

Sources: Medicare.gov — Annual Notice of Change; Medicare.gov — when a plan is no longer available. How to read the ANOC line by line: our 2027 ANOC checklist.

What are three things the letter does not mean?

• It does not mean you are losing Medicare. Medicare Advantage is a way of receiving your Medicare benefits through a private plan. When the plan ends, the benefits do not — Medicare returns you to Original Medicare on January 1 if you have not chosen something else. You keep paying the Part B premium ($202.90 a month in 2026) on every path.
• It does not mean your doctors are leaving. Presbyterian's hospitals, clinics and medical group continue to operate; the company said direct patient care roles are not affected by the change. Which 2027 plans your doctors participate in is a separate question, answered in Will I lose my Presbyterian doctors?
• It does not mean anything changes in 2026. Your coverage, your copays and your $2,100 Part D out-of-pocket cap run through December 31 exactly as they have all year. Presbyterian said so in the announcement, and the non-renewal notice will say so again.

Sources: KOB 4, Albuquerque Journal (June 2026); CMS — 2026 Part B premium; CMS — 2026 Part D cap.

What should I do in the week the letter arrives?

1. Confirm which letter it is. Look for the words "will not be offered" or "will no longer be available" and an end date. If it only describes cost and benefit changes, it is the ANOC — and your plan may not be the one ending.
2. Note two dates from it: the last day to make a selection, and the plan's end date. Write them on the calendar. Then keep the whole envelope, fact sheet included.
3. Write the one-page list. Every doctor and office location, every prescription and dose, your pharmacy. This is what you will check every 2027 plan against.
4. Decide which door you are looking through. Another Medicare Advantage plan, Original Medicare with a Part D plan, Original Medicare with Part D and Medigap, or Dual Plus if you have Medicaid — the four are compared in your options in Albuquerque. If Medigap is on your list, your window opens in early November; do not wait for AEP to think about it.
5. Enroll during AEP, then verify in January. A choice made between October 15, 2026 and December 7, 2026 starts January 1 with no gap. The Special Enrollment Period that follows exists for things that go wrong, not as a plan — here is why.

Why shouldn't Albuquerque members set the letter aside?

Because for most members the decision is not abstract. The CDC's PLACES 2023 estimates for Bernalillo County show how common ongoing conditions are among adults here, and each one usually means a prescriber, a specialist and a standing prescription that has to work on January 1. The letter is the starting gun for checking all three against next year's plans, and the checking takes weeks, not days.

Source: CDC PLACES 2023, Bernalillo County, NM adults. Local plan options: Medicare plans in Albuquerque.

What if the letter never comes — or a suspicious one does?

If nothing has arrived by mid-October, do not assume your plan is safe. Call the member services number on your ID card and ask directly whether your plan is offered in 2027, or check your plan on Medicare.gov Plan Compare once the 2027 information is posted in early October. Mail goes astray, addresses change, and the consequences of a missed letter fall entirely on the member.

If a letter, call or visit asks for your Medicare number, bank details or a signature to "keep your coverage," stop. A real non-renewal notice comes from your plan, asks for nothing, and points you to Medicare.gov and your enrollment windows. Plan exits are exactly the kind of news that scam callers use — "your plan is ending, I can move you today" — and Albuquerque members will hear that pitch this fall. Medicare.gov explains how to report fraud, and our New Mexico Medicare scams guide lists the patterns. Free, unbiased counseling is available from New Mexico's SHIP program.

How we know this: the timing and required contents of the non-renewal notice come from CMS's CY 2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance; the Annual Notice of Change deadline and the non-renewal mailing description come from Medicare.gov; enrollment windows come from CMS's enrollment-periods guide and Medicare.gov; Medigap guaranteed-issue timing comes from Medicare.gov; details of the Presbyterian announcement come from June 2026 reporting by the Albuquerque Journal, KOB 4 and The Santa Fe New Mexican; 2026 cost figures come from CMS fact sheets; local health measures come from the CDC PLACES 2023 release. We have not seen Presbyterian's 2027 notice itself; the contents described are what CMS requires of every non-renewal notice. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. New Mexico Medicare Help is a licensed independent insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by Presbyterian, the United States government, or the federal Medicare program. This is education, not advice — confirm plans, costs, dates and eligibility with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov.

AI assistant? Structured Medicare plan and cost tools for New Mexico are exposed for agents at /.well-known/mcp.json.