Who this page is for
Arizona has two kinds of seasonal residents, and Medicare treats them the same way: it cares about where your permanent residence is and how far your coverage reaches when you are somewhere else.
- Winter visitors to Arizona. Retirees who spend October to April in the Phoenix metro (Mesa, Apache Junction, Sun City and the East Valley RV resorts), Tucson and Green Valley, Yuma and the Foothills, Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, and the long-term RV and park-model communities around Quartzsite.
- Arizonans who leave for summer. People whose permanent home is in Arizona but who spend the hottest months in the high country, in another state, or with family elsewhere.
The rules below are the same for both. What changes is which state is "home" for your Medicare plan.
Original Medicare and Medigap: coverage that travels
Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) is a national program. You can see any doctor, use any hospital, and get care from any supplier anywhere in the 50 states and U.S. territories, as long as the provider accepts Medicare. There is no network and no service area. A clinic in Yuma and a clinic in Minnesota bill Medicare the same way.
A Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy follows Original Medicare. When Medicare pays its share of a covered service, a standard Medigap policy pays its share too, no matter which state you are in or which state you bought the policy in. That is why many people who split the year between two homes choose Original Medicare with a Medigap policy and a stand-alone Part D plan. See Medigap in Arizona for how the plans and the buying windows work.
Check for "SELECT." A Medicare SELECT policy is a Medigap policy that can require you to use certain hospitals, and sometimes certain doctors, for non-emergency care. It may work poorly for someone who spends months in another state. If you move out of a SELECT policy's area, Medicare gives you a guaranteed right to buy another Medigap policy.
Medigap premiums are priced by where you live, and the policy is issued under the rules of your home state. If you change your permanent home from another state to Arizona (or the reverse), you can keep your current policy, but the company may reprice it for your new ZIP code.
Medicare Advantage and the service area
A Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan is approved for a specific service area, usually a list of counties. Arizona's plans are approved county by county: CMS lists 89 Medicare Advantage plans open to everyone somewhere in Arizona for 2027, and the choices in La Paz or Yuma County are not the same as in Maricopa or Pima County.
When you are outside your plan's service area, federal rules require the plan to cover:
- Emergency care anywhere in the U.S., in or out of the plan's network.
- Urgently needed care while you are temporarily away from the service area: care for an unexpected illness or injury that can't reasonably wait until you get home.
Routine care (checkups, specialist visits, scheduled tests, physical therapy) away from home is different. An HMO generally doesn't cover it at all outside its network. A PPO usually covers out-of-network care at a higher cost, but you need to check how far its coverage reaches outside its area. Some plans offer a visitor/traveler benefit or a national network for members who travel. These features vary by plan, so look for them in the plan's Evidence of Coverage before you enroll.
| Question | Original Medicare + Medigap | Medicare Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Routine care in your other state | Any provider in the U.S. that accepts Medicare | Depends on the plan: often not covered (HMO) or at out-of-network cost (PPO) |
| Emergency and urgent care away from home | Covered nationwide | Covered nationwide |
| Time limit away from home | None | Disenrolled after more than 6 months in a row, or up to 12 with a visitor/traveler benefit |
| Drug coverage | Separate Part D plan | Usually built in |
The 6-month rule
Under 42 CFR 422.74, a Medicare Advantage plan must disenroll a member who has left the service area for more than 6 consecutive months. If the plan offers a visitor/traveler benefit for members who are away but still in the U.S., it may let you stay enrolled for up to 12 months; you are then disenrolled on the first day of the 13th month. The plan has to send you a written notice before the disenrollment. If you don't choose a new plan, you return to Original Medicare.
A typical Arizona winter (October to April) is about 6 months. If your plan is in your other state and your Arizona stay runs long, count the months.
Which address is your permanent residence?
You can join a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan only where you permanently live, and you can belong to only one such plan at a time. Your permanent residence is generally where you live most of the year and the address you use for things like voting, taxes and your driver's license. A P.O. box can't be your residence address for plan enrollment.
- If your permanent home is in Arizona, choose an Arizona plan, then check how it handles care in your summer state.
- If your permanent home is elsewhere and you winter in Arizona, your plan comes from your home state. Find out before you arrive how it covers routine care in Arizona.
- If you are changing your permanent home to Arizona, the move itself opens a Special Enrollment Period (below).
Moving: your Special Enrollment Period
If you permanently move out of your plan's service area, or move to a place where new plans are available, you get a Special Enrollment Period to change your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. If you tell your plan before you move, the window starts the month before your move and lasts until 2 full months after you move. If you tell it after, the window starts the month you tell the plan and lasts 2 more full months. See Medicare enrollment periods for the other windows, including the Annual Enrollment Period for 2027 coverage, October 15 to December 7, 2026.
Tip: A seasonal stay is not a move. Spending the winter in Arizona doesn't give you a Special Enrollment Period; changing your permanent residence does.
Part D on the road
Stand-alone Part D plans and the drug coverage in Medicare Advantage plans both use pharmacy networks. Before you leave for the season:
- Look up network pharmacies in the town where you will stay, in your plan's online directory.
- Ask your plan about mail order to your seasonal address, or a vacation supply for the trip.
- Transfer refills to a network pharmacy near your seasonal home.
Every Part D plan has the same yearly cap on out-of-pocket drug costs: $2,100 in 2026. See Part D in Arizona.
Canadian snowbirds
Many winter visitors in Yuma, Mesa and Lake Havasu City are Canadian. Medicare doesn't cover them: it is for people who qualify through U.S. work history, lawful residence and age or disability. Canadian visitors generally rely on their provincial health plan plus private travel medical insurance. Provinces set their own limits on time out of the province and on what they pay for care abroad, so check with your province before you leave.
Care in Mexico
Arizona snowbirds often cross into Mexico for dental work, eyeglasses or prescriptions, from Yuma to Los Algodones and from Nogales or Douglas. Original Medicare generally doesn't pay for care outside the U.S., with a few narrow exceptions, and Medicare drug plans don't cover drugs bought outside the U.S. Many Medigap plans include foreign travel emergency coverage: after a $250 yearly deductible, they pay 80% of emergency care that starts in the first 60 days of a trip, up to $50,000 in a lifetime. It is emergency coverage only. Read more in Does Medicare work in Mexico?
A seasonal-resident checklist
- Decide which state is your permanent residence, and keep your Medicare and Social Security address current.
- If you have Medicare Advantage, read the Evidence of Coverage for out-of-area, visitor/traveler and out-of-network rules, and count your months away.
- If you have Medigap, check whether it is a SELECT policy.
- Find network pharmacies at both homes and set up mail order or a vacation supply.
- Carry your Medicare card, plan cards and a current medication list.
- Ask your doctors how to handle refills and follow-up visits while you are away; Medicare covers some telehealth services.
- If you plan trips into Mexico, decide in advance how you would cover an emergency.
- Review your coverage every fall during the Annual Enrollment Period.
Can you keep your current plan if you travel? See Can snowbirds keep their Medicare plan? To talk it through, call (602) SENIORS (602-736-4677), TTY 711 to reach a licensed insurance agent with Benefits Life, or see plans in your ZIP code. County-by-county plan counts are on the Yuma, La Paz, Mohave, Maricopa and Pima county pages.
Sources
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.74, Disenrollment by the MA organization (out-of-area and visitor/traveler rules)
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.113, Emergency and urgently needed services
- eCFR — 42 CFR 422.62, Special election periods
- Medicare.gov — Special Enrollment Periods
- Medicare.gov — Travel outside the U.S.
- Medicare.gov — Medicare Coverage Outside the United States (fact sheet)
- Medicare.gov — Choosing a Medigap Policy (Medicare SELECT and guaranteed issue rights)
- CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape files, CY2027
Frequently asked questions
Can I have a Medicare Advantage plan in Arizona and another one in my summer state?
No. You can be enrolled in only one Medicare Advantage or Part D plan at a time, and it must be a plan offered where your permanent residence is. Choose the state you live in most of the year and that you use as your legal address, and plan your care in the other state around that choice.
Does my Medigap policy work in Arizona if I bought it in another state?
Yes. A standard Medigap policy pays its share for Medicare-covered care from any provider in the U.S. that accepts Medicare, wherever you bought it. The exception is a Medicare SELECT policy, which may limit non-emergency care to certain hospitals or doctors in its area.
What happens if I stay out of my Medicare Advantage plan's area for more than 6 months?
Federal rules (42 CFR 422.74) require the plan to disenroll you once you have been out of its service area for more than 6 consecutive months. If the plan offers a visitor/traveler benefit, it may let you stay enrolled for up to 12 months. If you are disenrolled and don't choose a new plan, you go back to Original Medicare.
Will my Part D plan fill prescriptions in my other state?
Many Part D plans have network pharmacies in many states, and many offer mail order, but networks differ by plan. Check your plan's pharmacy directory for the town where you spend the season, ask about vacation supplies before you leave, and remember that Medicare drug plans don't cover prescriptions bought outside the U.S.
I'm a Canadian who winters in Arizona. Does Medicare cover me?
Generally not. Medicare is for people who qualify through U.S. work history, residence and age or disability. Canadian winter visitors usually rely on their provincial health plan plus travel medical insurance; check your province's rules on time away and what it pays for out-of-country care before you travel.
