The plan letters, and what each one leaves you
Medigap policies are standardized by law. Plan G from one company covers exactly what Plan G covers from another. Only the price and the service differ.
Why letters at all?
Before 1992, supplement policies were a swamp. Congress standardized them into lettered plans so that people could compare on price instead of on fine print. It worked. It is one of the genuinely good things about this system.
So when two companies both sell Plan G, the coverage is identical, by law. The premium is not. We have seen the same Plan G quoted, in the same county, in the same month, at prices $60 a month apart.
Three states do it differently. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize their supplements on their own systems, so the letters below do not apply there.
The four letters worth your attention
Ten letters exist. In practice, almost everyone buying today ends up in one of these.
Plan G
Covers everything Original Medicare leaves except the $283 Part B deductible. After that one payment, Medicare-approved care costs you essentially nothing for the rest of the year.
Covers excess charges: yes.
Best for: people who want a predictable year and do not want to think about it again.
Plan N
You pay the Part B deductible, then up to $20 for most office visits and up to $50 for an emergency room visit that does not end in admission.
Covers excess charges: no.
Best for: people who see a doctor a few times a year and whose doctors accept assignment.
Plan K and Plan L
Plan K pays 50% of most of the gaps; Plan L pays 75%. Both have a yearly out-of-pocket limit, and once you reach it they pay everything for the rest of the year. The limits change annually.
Best for: people who want a lower premium and can absorb a bad year up to a known number.
High-deductible Plan G
Identical coverage to Plan G, but you pay a few thousand dollars of Medicare-covered costs yourself first each year. The monthly premium is dramatically lower.
Best for: healthy people with savings who want protection from disaster rather than help with routine bills.
Why you cannot buy Plan F
Plan F covered everything, including the Part B deductible. A 2015 law closed it to anyone who first became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. Plan C closed on the same date and for the same reason.
If you were eligible before that date, you can still buy Plan F, and if you already have it you can keep it. Keeping it is not automatically wise. No new, younger, healthier people are joining the Plan F pool, so its premiums tend to climb faster than Plan G’s. The difference between the two is one $283 deductible a year. If your Plan F costs more than $24 a month above a comparable Plan G, you are paying more than that deductible for the privilege of not paying it.
That switch is not automatic, though. Outside a protected window, moving from Plan F to Plan G usually means answering health questions. Check first, then decide.
The window that decides everything
Six months, once
Your Medigap open enrollment begins the month you are both 65 and enrolled in Part B, and runs six months. During it, any company must sell you any plan they offer at their standard rate, with no health questions and no refusals.
Outside it, in most states, they may ask about your health and decline you. There is no annual do-over. This is the most expensive thing people learn late, and it is why we push so hard on dates.
How to compare, in the right order
- Pick the letter first. It defines the coverage, and the coverage is identical everywhere.
- Then compare price between companies. Same letter, different premium, identical benefits.
- Then ask how the company prices as you age. Attained-age policies rise every birthday. Issue-age and community-rated policies do not rise because you got older, only for general increases. The cheapest quote at 65 is not always the cheapest policy at 78.
- Then check the company’s history of rate increases. This is the part a comparison site will not show you, and it is the part we actually keep records on.
Remember what Medigap does not do
A supplement does not cover prescriptions. If you choose Original Medicare plus a Medigap policy, you also need a separate Part D drug plan, or you will collect a lifelong penalty.
It also does not cover dental, vision, hearing aids or long-term care. Some people buy standalone dental policies for that. We will tell you honestly when one is worth it and when it is not.
We will price the same letter across every company.
Tell us your age, ZIP code and whether you use tobacco, and we will come back with the real list, sorted by price, with the rate-increase history attached.