What’s the Best Medigap Plan?

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last updated 3 September 2025

Older Americans have important decisions to make each year regarding their Medigap and Medicare coverage. Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7 every year.

The best time to buy a policy is during your Medigap open enrollment period, when you first become eligible for Medicare. Under federal law, you get a six-month Medigap open enrollment period that starts the first month you have Medicare Part B and you’re 65 or older.

After this period, if you have any pre-existing conditions, you may not be able to buy a Medigap policy, or it may cost more to buy a policy. Your Medigap open enrollment period is a one-time opportunity and doesn’t repeat annually.

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Why you need Medigap

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Original Medicare provides a number of great benefits to enrollees, but this coverage does have some gaps. For instance, Part B will cover only 80% of your medical expenses, after you hit the deductible, with no out-of-pocket maximum. That means you could be on the hook for a significant bill if you become gravely ill. Part A will only pay for the first 60 days you spend in the hospital after a deductible is met, before you must start paying co-insurance.

Medigap plans generally help cover your share of costs for services that are covered by original Medicare Parts A and Part B. These policies help cover out-of-pocket costs, such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. Because of these gaps in original Medicare coverage, many beneficiaries choose to enroll in either a Medicare Advantage plan or a supplemental policy to help cover those costs.

(For more on Medicare Advantage, see Is a Medicare Advantage Plan Right for You?)

Guaranteed issue rights

Outside of your six-month open enrollment period that begins the month you turn age 65, you also have a guaranteed issue right within 63 days of when you lose or end certain kinds of health coverage. When you have a guaranteed issue right, insurance companies can't use underwriting and must sell you a Medigap policy at the best available rate, regardless of your health status, and cannot deny you coverage. Guaranteed issue rights also prevent companies from imposing a waiting period for coverage of pre-existing conditions.

Outside of your initial enrollment period, you may have a guaranteed issue right if:

You joined a Medicare Advantage Plan when you first became eligible for Medicare and disenrolled within 12 months
Your previous Medigap policy, Medicare Advantage Plan, or PACE program ends its coverage or commits fraud
Through no fault of your own, you lost your employer health plan that covered your Medicare cost-sharing, meaning it paid secondary to your Medicare coverage and paid costs not covered by Medicare

Four states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New York, prohibit insurers from denying a Medigap policy to eligible applicants, including people with pre-existing conditions.

In Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, insurers are required to issue Medigap policies at any time during the year. Maine, which has a one-month guaranteed issue period each year, only requires insurers to offer Medigap Plan A policies. And Minnesota has enacted legislation to institute annual guaranteed issue protections, which are set to go into effect on August 1, 2026.

Read Watch Out for the ‘Medigap Trap’ to fully understand the consequences if you choose Medicare Advantage and plan to switch to traditional Medicare later as your needs change.

What is Medigap insurance?

If you opt to enroll in original Medicare, you will have some expenses in addition to your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. Medigap policies help cover your out-of-pocket costs associated with original Medicare, which include your copayments for doctor visits and prescriptions, coinsurance, and deductibles.

While Medigap plans are there to cover what your original Medicare plan doesn't, they generally don’t cover long-term care, private-duty nursing, vision or dental care, hearing aids or eyeglasses.

If you decide to go with a Medicare supplement policy (or more commonly called Medigap), you then must select which plan you want. Medigap plans are administered by private insurance companies. These plans come in 10 letter designations (A through D; F; G; and K through N). All plans with the same letter have the same coverage, but prices can vary based on the insurance company.

The 10 different types of Medigap insurance

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Which plan is right for you depends on your personal preferences and how much medical care you expect to need that year. The plans offer a range of benefits, with some covering many of your Medicare costs while others require more cost-sharing. Some plans offer a high deductible option, and others have out-of-pocket maximums that will pay 100% of your costs for approved services after meeting your maximum and Part B deductible.

The range of options gives you some flexibility to find an option to fit your needs, budget, or both.

Plans C and F. Plan F has been the most popular because of its generous benefits. It covers the Medicare Part A hospital deductible and co-payments, the Part B deductible, and some emergency care outside the U.S.

Plan C covers many of the same benefits as Plan F, except it won’t pay for the Part B excess charge. This happens when a provider charges Medicare more than the amount approved by the program. The beneficiary is then responsible for that excess amount.

However, Plans C and F are no longer available to those who became eligible for Medicare after Jan. 1, 2020. Medigap plans are no longer allowed to cover Part B deductibles. Since both of these plans paid for that, insurance companies can no longer offer them to new beneficiaries. Those already enrolled in those plans can keep that insurance. However, premiums are likely to rise as these plans can no longer accept new enrollees.

If you were considering Plan F, then take a look at Plan G. It provides the same coverage as Plan F except for the Part B deductible.

Plan G. Due to the phasing out of the popular Medigap Plan F, Plan G is now the plan of choice for many. Plan F is considered the top-of-the-line Medigap policy and Plan G comes closer than any other policy in matching Plan F's coverage. The glaring difference is that Plan G does not cover the Part B deductible, which is $257 in 2025.

Like Medigap Plan F, Plan G also covers “excess charges.” Doctors who don’t accept the full Medicare-approved amount as full payment can charge you up to 15% more than the Medicare-approved amount for services or procedures. (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont have banned excess charges.)

Plan D. Plan D is similar to Plan G as it covers more than most Medigap plans, but unlike Plan G, it does not cover excess charges.

Plan M. Plan M is nearly identical to Plan D, but while Plan D covers the full Medicare Part A deductible, Plan M covers only half.

Plans K and L. Medicare Supplement Plan K and Plan L are cheaper than other Medigap policies. These two plans have a lower monthly cost since you’ll also share the cost of coinsurance for your Plan K and L bills (50% for K and 25% for L) up to an annual out-of-pocket limit.

Your cost-sharing ends once you reach that annual Plan K or L out-of-pocket limit. The 2025 out-of-pocket (OOP) limits for Medigap plans K and L are $7,220 and $3,610, respectively.

If you don’t anticipate having many doctor visits, consider Plan N, which usually has lower premiums in return for some cost sharing.

Plan N. Plan N is the third most popular plan type, covering about 10% of all Medigap members. Plan N has lower premiums than other popular options like Plan G and Plan F. Plan N pays 100% of the costs of Part B services, except for copayments for some office visits and some emergency room visits.

In 2025, Plan N copays are up to $20 for doctor visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits after the Part B deductible is met. Plan N also covers the Part A deductible, which is $1,676 in 2025. Plan N doesn't cover Part B excess charges.

Plans A and B. Plan A is ideal if you want more coverage than Medicare Parts A and B but don’t plan to use a lot of healthcare services. Plan A includes only the basics for Medigap plans — the benefits that every Medigap plan covers.

Plan B provides the same benefits as Plan A, plus a little more coverage for hospitalization by paying the Part A deductible. The premiums are lower for Plans A and B, and while you won’t pay for extra coverage you might not use, you may have some occasional extra out-of-pocket costs.

High deductible plans. Medigap Plans F and G can be sold with a high deductible option. The high-deductible version of Plan F is only available to those who signed up for Medicare before January 1, 2020. High-deductible Plan G is available to individuals who are new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. (Before June 1, 2010, Medigap Plan J could also be sold with a high deductible.)

The annual deductible amount for these three plans is $2,870 in 2025. The deductible amount for the high deductible version of plans G, F and J represents the annual out-of-pocket expenses (excluding premiums) that you must pay, at which point your coverage will kick in.

Help choosing the right Medigap plan

Medicare provides a chart that outlines what each Medigap plan covers. Medicare also provides a tool that allows you to compare different Medigap plans available in your area. Enter your zip code, age, gender and whether you smoke, and Medicare will provide a price range for each available plan and a list of insurers who offer the coverage.