Medicare Supplement Plans or Medigap
What Actually Is It?
A Medicare Supplement, also called Medigap, works alongside Original Medicare rather than replacing it. Original Medicare covers a large share of your costs, but not all of it. A Medigap plan is designed to help pay for what's left over, things like deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance, so fewer surprises land on you directly.
Plan Choices
There are several standardized Medigap plans, each labeled with a letter, and each covering a different combination of costs. Rather than list all ten individually, here's the general pattern:
Most comprehensive — Plans like F and G cover nearly every gap Original Medicare leaves, once you meet the plan's deductible.
Moderate coverage — Plans like C, D, and N cover a solid share of costs, with small differences in what's included.
Basic coverage — Plans like A and B cover the core costs, hospital coinsurance, copayments, and blood costs, without some of the extras the more comprehensive plans include.
The right one depends on how much predictability you want in your monthly costs versus your out-of-pocket costs when you actually use care.
Because the right Medigap plan depends so much on your specific health needs and budget, this is usually easier to talk through than to figure out alone.
Enrollment Timing (Medigap-specific)
Medigap has one timing detail that's different from the general Medicare enrollment windows covered on our main Medicare page: when you first enroll in Part B at 65 or older, you get a one-time, 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment window. During that window, insurance companies can't deny you coverage or charge you more based on your health. Outside that window, in most states, they can.
This is one of the few places in Medicare where timing isn't just about penalties, it can affect whether you're able to get the plan you want at all.
What it Costs
Medigap plans charge their own monthly premium, on top of your Part B premium. In exchange, you typically pay little to nothing out of pocket when you actually receive care, depending on which plan you choose.
We are not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact 1-800-MEDICARE or visit medicare.gov to get information on all of your options.
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