What Medigap Actually Does
Medicare Supplement insurance — commonly called Medigap — is designed to work alongside Original Medicare (Parts A and B), helping cover some of the costs Original Medicare doesn’t pay for: coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles. Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies but standardized by the federal government, meaning a Plan G from one insurer covers the same benefits as a Plan G from another — the difference is typically price and customer service, not coverage.
The Standardized Plan Letters
Medigap plans are labeled with letters (A, B, D, G, K, L, M, N, and a few others depending on your state), each with a fixed set of benefits. Plan G and Plan N are among the most commonly chosen options today, since Plan C and Plan F are no longer available to people who became newly eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020.
Medigap Only Works With Original Medicare
This is a key structural point: Medigap policies are not compatible with Medicare Advantage plans. If you’re enrolled in Medicare Advantage, you cannot also use a Medigap policy — the two are separate paths, and switching from one to the other involves its own enrollment rules and, outside your initial window, potential medical underwriting.
The Medigap Open Enrollment Window
The best time to buy a Medigap policy is during your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which starts the month your Part B coverage begins. During this window, insurers cannot deny you a policy or charge you more based on your health history. Outside this window, in most states, insurers can use medical underwriting to decide whether to offer you a policy and at what price — which is why timing this decision matters more than people often realize.
What Medigap Doesn’t Cover
Medigap policies don’t include prescription drug coverage — you’ll need a standalone Part D plan alongside it — and they don’t cover most dental, vision, or hearing care.
Weighing Medigap Against Medicare Advantage
The tradeoff generally comes down to predictability versus extra benefits: Medigap plus Part D tends to mean higher fixed monthly premiums but very low, predictable costs when you use care, with the freedom to see any provider who accepts Medicare. Medicare Advantage tends to mean lower premiums and bundled extras, with more variable costs and network restrictions.
Have questions? Schedule a free review with Kayla Price, a licensed insurance agent at Price Services Group. Call 866-648-1578 or visit priceservicesgroup.com/schedule.
Price Services Group, LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program. NPN: 18530055 | Agency NPN: 20387435