Medicare Supplement Plans Cost 2027

Which method an insurer uses depends on the company and your state. Ask before you buy.

Medigap benefits are standardized by plan letter. Prices vary by insurer, age, ZIP code and tobacco use.

Doctors who “accept assignment” agree to take Medicare’s approved amount as full payment. Doctors who do not accept assignment can charge up to 15% more, called a Part B excess charge. Plans F and G cover excess charges; Plan N and most other plans do not.

Most doctors accept assignment, and some states limit or prohibit excess charges, so for many people the risk is small. Ask your doctors whether they accept assignment before deciding whether excess charge coverage is worth paying for.

Your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period starts the first month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. It happens only once and cannot be restarted. During it, insurers must sell you any Medigap plan they offer in your state, at the same price as people in good health.

If you keep working past 65 with employer coverage and delay Part B, your Medigap Open Enrollment Period waits until you enroll in Part B. Enrolling in Part B early, when you do not need it, starts the clock and can waste this protection.

If you have coverage from a current employer, you may not need Medigap yet, and delaying Part B can preserve your Medigap Open Enrollment Period for later. Retiree coverage is different: it may work like a supplement, so compare it with Medigap before dropping it, because you may not be able to get retiree coverage back.

When employer or union coverage that pays after Medicare ends, you generally have a guaranteed issue right to buy certain Medigap plans.

Some insurers sell Medicare SELECT policies, a type of Medigap that requires you to use specific hospitals, and sometimes doctors, for non-emergency care in exchange for a lower premium. Benefits match the standard plan letter, but the network rule makes them work more like a managed plan. If you want any-doctor freedom, choose a standard Medigap policy instead.

Consider a hospital stay. Without a supplement, you pay the Part A deductible for each benefit period, $1,736 in 2026, plus 20% of the doctors’ Part B bills while you are in the hospital, with no cap. With Plan G, the Part A deductible and your Part B coinsurance are covered; after the yearly Part B deductible, you generally pay nothing for Medicare-approved care.

If you buy Medigap during your open enrollment period or with a guaranteed issue right, you generally cannot be denied or charged more for health conditions. However, if you did not have creditable coverage before, an insurer may impose a waiting period of up to six months before covering costs for a pre-existing condition. Prior creditable coverage reduces or removes that waiting period.

If you replace one Medigap policy with another, you generally get 30 days to decide whether to keep the new policy. Pay the premiums for both during that time, and do not cancel your old policy until you are sure about the new one.

If a quote includes an introductory discount, ask what the premium becomes after it ends.

If you have full Medicaid, you generally do not need Medigap, and insurers generally cannot sell you a policy that duplicates Medicaid benefits. If you qualify for a Medicare Savings Program, it may pay your Part B premium and, in some cases, deductibles and coinsurance; check whether a Medigap policy still adds value for you.

A Medicare Supplement plan is built to cover the gaps in Original Medicare. These are the costs it can pick up:

Federal law sets exactly what each plan letter covers, so the same letter has the same benefits from every insurer in your state.

*Plans C and F can only be bought by people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. **Plans K and L have a yearly out-of-pocket limit that Medicare sets each year; after you reach it, the plan pays 100% of covered services for the rest of the year. ***Plan N pays all Part B coinsurance except copays of up to $20 for some office visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits that do not lead to an inpatient admission. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize their plans differently.

Most people new to Medicare choose one of these three. Plan G covers every gap except the Part B deductible. Plan N trades a lower premium for copays of up to $20 for some office visits and up to $50 for ER visits that do not lead to admission, and it does not cover Part B excess charges. High-Deductible Plan G has a $3,050 deductible for 2027, up from $2,950, then covers like Plan G. See Plan G vs Plan N.