Medicare Advantage

How Medigap Letter Plans Fit Medicare in Dallas

People in Dallas can choose from 84 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 93 this year. 29 of this year’s plans are gone, 20 are new to Dallas County, and 31 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 9 of them under a new name.

DALLAS — If you're turning 65 in Dallas, or thinking about switching your coverage during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7), you'll run into the same fork in the road that every Medicare beneficiary faces. You can stick with Original Medicare and pair it with a Medigap policy (and usually a stand-alone Part D drug plan), or you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that bundles your coverage together.

Two Roads, One Decision

Neither path is universally better. They're built differently, and understanding how they're built is the first real step toward choosing what fits your life.

How Original Medicare + Medigap Is Structured

Original Medicare is the federal program itself — Part A (hospital) and Part B (medical). You can generally use it with any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, and there's no network to worry about.

Because Original Medicare leaves gaps (deductibles, coinsurance, no out-of-pocket cap on its own), many people add:

• A Medigap policy (also called Medicare Supplement) to help pay the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare doesn't cover.
• A stand-alone Part D plan for prescription drugs.

The trade-off is usually higher predictable monthly premiums in exchange for fewer surprise bills and broader provider access. One important note: Medigap has its own enrollment rules. You get your best access to a Medigap policy during the six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts when you're 65 and enrolled in Part B. Outside that window, insurers in Texas can, in most cases, use medical underwriting.

How Medicare Advantage Is Structured

Medicare Advantage (Part C) is offered by private insurers approved by Medicare. When you enroll, the plan takes over the administration of your Part A and Part B benefits, and most Advantage plans also fold in Part D drug coverage. Many include extras Original Medicare doesn't offer, such as routine dental, vision, or hearing benefits.

The trade-off is a network. Advantage plans typically use HMO or PPO structures, so which doctors and hospitals you can see — and at what cost — depends on the plan's network and rules like referrals or prior authorization. Advantage plans also have an annual out-of-pocket maximum for in-network Part A and Part B services, which Original Medicare alone does not.

The Dallas Snapshot

Dallas is in Dallas County, where beneficiaries generally have a wide range of Medicare Advantage and Part D options available compared with rural parts of Texas. The exact number of plans and carriers changes each year, so the most reliable place to see what's offered in your ZIP code is the Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov.

If you'd rather talk with a trained, unbiased counselor, Texas's SHIP program is called the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). It's free, and counselors don't sell insurance.

What Changes in 2027

A few program-level facts are worth knowing before you compare paths:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs hits that amount, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027 (plans can set a lower deductible).
• The coverage gap (“donut hole”) is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA: higher-income beneficiaries pay income-related surcharges on Part B and Part D. In 2026, those surcharges begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer (higher thresholds for joint filers).

These rules apply whether you choose Original Medicare + Medigap with a stand-alone Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage.

How to Think It Through

Instead of asking "which is better," ask which structure lines up with your life:

• Do you travel or split time outside Texas? Original Medicare works nationwide with any Medicare-accepting provider. Advantage plans have networks.
• Do you have specialists you don't want to lose? Check whether they're in a plan's network before you switch.
• Are predictable monthly costs more important, or lower monthly premiums with cost-sharing when you use care? That's often the core Medigap-vs.-Advantage question.
• What drugs do you take? Every Part D plan (stand-alone or built into Advantage) has its own formulary. The Plan Finder lets you enter your prescriptions.
• Do you want extras like dental or vision bundled in? Advantage plans commonly include them; with Original Medicare, you'd arrange those separately.