Original Medicare provides insurance coverage for hospital stays and outpatient physician and other medical expenses. Nevertheless, it has copayments and coinsurance and therefore does not eliminate all your medical bills, which can be significant.
That’s why you should consider Medicare supplemental insurance, or Medigap, to cover these out-of-pocket expenses. You have an array of Medigap plans to choose from. Weigh your healthcare needs and the cost when deciding on the best Medicare supplement plans for you.
“They’re not all the same,” says Annmarie Kish, with Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Revenue Cycle Management. “The most important thing is knowing your healthcare needs, what the plans offer and how they can help you. Then, look at the trade-offs.”
What Are Medicare Supplement Plans?
Medigap is extra health insurance you purchase from a private insurance firm to cover out-of-pocket costs from original Medicare. To buy Medicare supplement insurance, you must have Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance)—you cannot purchase a Medigap plan if you have Medicare Advantage (Part C) instead of original Medicare.
Like Medicare Part B, Medigap plans require you to pay a monthly premium, which varies based on the type of plan you choose. But unlike Part B, you can’t have your Medigap monthly premium deducted automatically from your Social Security payment because Medigap plans are private insurance products.
How Do Medicare Supplement Plans Work?
Medigap plans help to pay for deductibles, copayments and other expenses that original Medicare does not cover. For instance, if you receive healthcare services under Part B, you are responsible for a 20% coinsurance payment after you meet your deductible (which is $283 in 2026). The amount you pay for coinsurance can be substantial since there’s no out-of-pocket limit. Fortunately, Medicare supplement insurance helps to cover this expense.
“It really helps with your Medicare coinsurance needs, as well as hospital deductibles,” Kish says. “So, you’re paying for Medigap, but then you’re having less financial risk for outpatient costs later on.”
“You’re paying more every month in terms of a [Medigap] premium, but you know exactly what your out-of-pocket expense is,” adds Maura Carley, MPH, CIC, a Medicare expert with Healthcare Navigation, LLC.
Similarly, while Medicare Part A pays for inpatient hospital stays, you are responsible for a deductible ($1,736 in 2026) as well as daily coinsurance payments once your stay exceeds 60 days. Once your Part A benefits run out, Medicare supplement insurance pays 100% of coinsurance and hospital costs for up to an additional 365 days of inpatient care you require during your lifetime (Plan K pays 50%, while Plan L pays 75%).
Carley cites the case of a Medicare Part A recipient who had no Medigap coverage and was repeatedly readmitted to a hospital before dying. Afterward, the client’s estate received a hospital bill totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. “We’ve had a handful of clients go pretty well into that catastrophic hospitalization, so I think everybody should have that protection,” Carley says. “We always recommend that people on original Medicare get a supplement.”
Medigap plans also cover all or a percentage of Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayments and skilled nursing care coinsurance, as well as Part B coinsurance or copayments. Most pay all or part of the Part A deductible. All supplements have catastrophic hospitalization coverage, and some cover foreign travel emergencies, Carley notes.
Like original Medicare, Medigap plans do not pay for everything. Generally, they don’t cover routine vision and dental care, eyeglasses and hearing aids, private-duty nursing or long-term care (e.g., nursing home care). They also do not cover prescription medications, but coverage is available through a separate Medicare Part D drug plan.
Most states offer 10 types of Medigap plans with letter designations A through D, F, G, and K through N. All policies with the same letter provide the same basic benefits regardless of your location and the insurance company providing the coverage. The only difference between policies with the same plan letter is the cost of the monthly premium, which can vary considerably among providers and states.
The Best Medicare Supplement Plans to Consider
Among the 10 Medigap plans, three in particular stand out in terms of their level of coverage:
- Plan G is the most popular Medigap plan, used by nearly 39% of all Medigap recipients as of 2023, according to KFF, a health policy organization. It fully covers the gamut of hospital- and medical-related expenses, leaving the Part B deductible as your only out-of-pocket expense. Plan G is also available in a high-deductible version, in which you first pay a standardized deductible (set at $2,950 in 2026) before your coverage kicks in. (Note that the amount paid toward your Medicare Part A and Part B deductibles counts toward your Plan G high deductible.) On the positive side, the monthly premium for this plan is lower than with regular Plan G.
- Plan N covers about 10% of all Medigap recipients, according to KFF. Like Plan G, it offers a broad range of benefits, generally with lower monthly premiums than regular Plan G, but includes copayments (typically up to $20 per doctor visit and as much as $50 for emergency room visits) after you meet the Part B deductible.
- Plan F, in which a sizeable portion of Medicare beneficiaries remain, covers all the expenses covered by Plan G, but it also pays the Part B deductible. Here’s the catch: This plan (and Plan C) is no longer available to individuals who became eligible for Medicare after Jan. 1, 2020. Although people already enrolled in Plan F can keep the insurance, their monthly premiums probably will rise because the plan can no longer accept new enrollees. “Plan F is not a bargain. Some people cling to it because it covers the Part B deductible, but if you do the math, you’re going to be better off on a Plan G and paying that Part B deductible,” Carley advises. “Most people should get off Part F if they can.”
Best Medicare Supplement Plans by Need
Here’s a look at some of the best Medigap options based on certain needs and circumstances:
- Best for comprehensive coverage. “Plan G is the richest. Plan N, I would say, is the second richest,” Carley says. “For most clients, we talk about Plan G, a high-deductible G, and we want them to know about Plan N. We really don’t discuss the others.”
- Best for lower monthly premiums. Plans K and L typically have the lowest premiums, but they also require you to share the cost of coinsurance—50% for Plan K and 25% for Plan L—until you reach an annual out-of-pocket limit, which in 2026 is $8,000 for Plan K and $4,000 for Plan L. A high-deductible Plan G also offers lower premiums.
- Best for new Medicare members. It depends on the amount of care you need. Carley tends to steer new Medicare enrollees who use (or expect to use) a lot of healthcare services toward regular Plan G. “But we see lots of people new to Medicare who have only five or six visits a year, and for them, the high-deductible Plan G is likely going to make more sense,” she adds. “In most states you’re not allowed to switch plans without going through medical underwriting after the first six months, so many people will choose a more comprehensive supplement than they need in order to have it later on.”
- Best for frequent doctor visits. Again, Carley recommends Plan G.
- Best for healthy people who want to save money. High-deductible Plan G. “I’d almost always say go with a high-deductible G, but people need to decide for themselves and get the information,” Carley says.
How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans
When you’re deciding on a Medigap plan, carefully review the monthly premiums and any out-of-pocket costs you can expect. The Medicare website includes a chart that enables you to make a side-by-side Medicare supplement plan comparison (visit medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/medigap/basics/compare-plan-benefits).
Check which plans are available in your state. Enter your ZIP code in the search tool on the Medicare website to learn more about the Medigap plans available in your area.
Research the background and reputation of the Medigap plan provider you’re considering, and look for red flags, such as a history of frequent premium increases, which may give you an idea about the likelihood of future rate hikes. You might enlist the help of a Medigap broker or agent, who can supply you with this information.
Also, consider the provider’s financial stability. A broker can provide you with ratings of Medigap companies from financial rating companies like A.M. Best and Weiss Ratings. “You want this to be an important business to whatever company you choose,” Carley says. “You want to know they’re going to be around.”
When to Enroll in a Medicare Supplement Plan
Similar to original Medicare, Medigap plans have an open enrollment period, which starts the first month you have Medicare Part B and you’re age 65 or older and lasts for six months. But unlike original Medicare, Medigap open enrollment is a one-time period and doesn’t recur annually.
During Medigap open enrollment, you can sign up for any Medigap policy and you have guaranteed-issue rights. As such, under federal law, the insurance provider cannot refuse to sell you any of the policies it offers, nor can it use medical underwriting to evaluate your health and deny you coverage or charge you more because of your health condition. A few states offer other opportunities to purchase a Medigap plan (or switch plans) with guaranteed-issue rights, so check with your state insurance department to learn more.
“The federal law is that all plans are guaranteed-issue within six months of your Part B effective date, but in most states, after that, they’re medically underwritten,” Carley explains.
Final Advice
Choosing a Medigap plan is “really about your needs and what you can afford,” Kish says. “There are going to be different requirements and out-of-pocket costs, so it’s just good to know about them and to marry the best plan with your health needs.”
“People should know that Medicare pays, so you don’t have that gamesmanship with Medicare supplements in terms of claims payment that you can have in the non-Medicare world,” Carley adds. “So, do your homework so you’re not overpaying.”
