Medicare Help in Ventura County
Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Port Hueneme and Ojai. An independent agency that compares Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage and Part D against your own doctors, at no charge.
Medicare in Ventura County, in numbers
About 178,000 people in Ventura County were on Medicare in June 2026, according to the CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment data, about twice as many as in Santa Barbara County. About 41 percent of them were in a Medicare Advantage plan, against about 51 percent across California.
That share climbed steadily for a decade, from 28 percent in 2013 to about 42 percent by 2024, and has held there since. So this is a county where Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements are both common, and where the choice between them is a genuine one for a great many people.
We help people here with both. We enroll clients in Medicare Supplement plans with a standalone Part D drug plan, and in Medicare Advantage plans, and we compare the two against your own doctors, hospitals and prescriptions before you decide.
Supplement or Advantage in Ventura County
Ventura County has far more Medicare Advantage plans than its neighbors to the north, and Kaiser Permanente has medical offices in Camarillo, Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Ventura. Most of the Advantage plans here are HMOs, which means a primary care doctor, referrals for specialists, and a network you stay inside.
With an HMO the question that matters most is not the insurer but the medical group your doctor belongs to, because that is the contract your care actually runs through, and it can change. On January 1 2026 a large number of doctors left SeaView IPA, one of the physician associations in the west county, and Community Memorial told patients that for many of them their primary care doctor no longer accepted their insurance. The same day, Providence's physician network, which includes Facey Medical Group in Simi Valley, ended its contract with one national insurer's Advantage plans.
A Medicare Supplement avoids all of that. Any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare accepts it, which matters to people who see specialists in Los Angeles or Santa Barbara, or who spend part of the year away. Plan G and Plan N are the two we are asked about most. An Advantage plan can be the better fit when the premium of a Supplement does not sit comfortably in the budget and your doctors are firmly in the network. We will tell you honestly which side of that line you are on.
What changes here for 2027
CMS published its list of 2027 plans in September. Three insurers that offered Medicare Advantage plans in Ventura County for 2026 are not on the 2027 list, one of them withdrawing from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties as well. The county still has more Advantage choices than either neighbor. CMS says the list can still change while contracts are finalized.
If your Advantage plan is leaving, it will send you a letter this fall. You will have a special enrollment period to choose another plan, and when a plan leaves the area you also gain a time limited right to buy certain Medicare Supplement policies without answering health questions. That right is short, so call us as soon as the letter arrives rather than waiting for the Annual Enrollment Period to end.
The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7. Changes made then take effect January 1.
Doctors and hospitals to check before you choose
Write down the doctors, the medical group and the hospital you intend to keep, and we will check them against each plan with you.
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Community Memorial. Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura and Community Memorial Hospital in Ojai, the former Ojai Valley Community Hospital, run by the independent nonprofit Community Memorial Healthcare.
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Dignity Health. St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John's Hospital Camarillo, with Dignity Health Medical Group in the county.
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Los Robles Regional Medical Center. In Thousand Oaks, part of HCA Healthcare's Los Robles Health System.
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Adventist Health Simi Valley. The acute care hospital for Simi Valley.
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Ventura County Medical Center and Santa Paula Hospital. Both run by the county's Health Care Agency, with its own clinics. In August 2026 the Board of Supervisors approved replacing Santa Paula Hospital, which is due to close on January 1 2030, with a care center offering urgent care, imaging, lab and pharmacy but no emergency room or inpatient beds. People in Santa Paula and Fillmore should keep that in mind when they choose a network.
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Medical groups. SeaView IPA, Rincon Health Network with Primary Medical Group, Ojai Valley Family Medicine Group and Spanish Hills Medical Group, Dignity Health Medical Group, Facey Medical Group in Simi Valley, and Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser has medical offices in the county but no hospital here.
Free local help that is not us
Social Security: three offices. Oxnard, 2000 Outlet Center Drive, Suite 250, serves Oxnard, Camarillo and Port Hueneme. Ventura, 6477 Telephone Road, Suite 1, serves Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Moorpark. Thousand Oaks, 322 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Suite 110, serves Thousand Oaks and most of Simi Valley. Simi Valley ZIP 93063 is served by the Chatsworth office in Los Angeles County. The phone number for all of them is 1-800-772-1213.
HICAP: California's free, unbiased Medicare counseling program, run here by the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging at (805) 477-7300, or the statewide line at 1-800-434-0222. During the Annual Enrollment Period it holds appointments at events around the county.
Medi-Cal: Gold Coast Health Plan runs Medi-Cal in Ventura County, and some residents have Medi-Cal through Kaiser Permanente. If you qualify for both Medicare and Medi-Cal, your choices and your enrollment rights are different, and worth a separate conversation with us.
Most Social Security business, including applying for Medicare, can be done online at SSA.gov without a visit. Our apply for Medicare checklist walks through it.
Working with us from Ventura County
Our office is in downtown Santa Barbara, about half an hour up the 101 from Ventura and a little under an hour from Oxnard and Camarillo outside rush hour. Clients from the west county often come in. From Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Moorpark most people work with us by phone, and nothing about the enrollment requires a trip.
A first Medicare appointment takes about an hour. We explain every option, check your doctors, your medical group and your prescriptions, and complete the enrollment with you. After that we stay: claims questions, billing problems and plan changes are part of the service, and we contact you before each Annual Enrollment Period.
Turning 65 soon? The Turning 65 Checklist sets out what to do in each month, and Supplement or Advantage on the Central Coast compares this county with Santa Barbara County side by side.
Questions we hear from Ventura County
Short answers. Call us for the long ones.
Do you help people in Ventura County?
Yes. We work with clients across the county, from Ventura, Ojai and Oxnard to Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Santa Paula and Fillmore. You are welcome in our Santa Barbara office, and many clients work with us by phone.
Do you sell Medicare Advantage plans as well as Medicare Supplements?
Yes. We enroll clients in Medicare Advantage plans and in Medicare Supplement plans, usually with a standalone Part D drug plan. In Ventura County both are common, and we compare them against your own doctors, medical group, hospitals and prescriptions before you decide.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. For information on all of your options, contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE.
How common is Medicare Advantage in Ventura County?
About 41 percent of people on Medicare here were in an Advantage plan in June 2026, according to CMS enrollment data, against about 51 percent statewide and about 20 percent in Santa Barbara County.
My doctor left my plan's medical group. What can I do?
It depends on the plan and the timing. Sometimes the doctor can be followed to another plan at the Annual Enrollment Period, sometimes a Medicare Supplement is the better answer, and sometimes a special enrollment period applies. Call us with the name of the doctor and the plan, and we will work out what is open to you.
What does your help cost?
Nothing. The insurance company pays the agent, and your premium is the same whether you enroll through us or directly. There is never a charge for our services.
Is there free Medicare counseling in Ventura County?
Yes. HICAP, the state's Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, is run here by the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging at (805) 477-7300. HICAP counselors do not sell insurance. We are glad to work alongside them.
A local answer to a local question
We watch these networks and these plan lists every year. When a medical group changes contracts or a plan leaves, we know which of our clients it touches and what window it opens. That is the practical value of an independent agency over a call center reading a national script.
Bring your list of doctors, your prescriptions and your Medicare start date. We will tell you plainly what we would do, including when the honest answer is to keep the coverage you already have.
Or call us at (805) 966-4900. There is never a charge for our help.
About this page. The organizations, websites and rules described here change from time to time, and what you see may not match this page exactly. It was checked on October 1, 2026. If something looks different, or you get stuck at any point, call us at (805) 966-4900 and we will walk you through it.
Medicare Help in Ventura County
Call, come up the 101 to our State Street office, or ask for a phone appointment. There is never a charge for our services.