Medicare Supplement

How Medicare Supplement Letters Work in Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. — If you've started shopping for a Medicare Supplement plan, you've probably run into a wall of letters: Plan A, Plan B, Plan G, Plan N, and a few more. It looks like alphabet soup, but there's a reason behind it. Those letters are a federal shorthand that make it easier — not harder — to compare your options.

The letters can look confusing. They're actually there to help you.

Medicare Supplement Insurance, often called Medigap, is private coverage that works alongside Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). It helps pay some of the costs that Original Medicare doesn't, like coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles. Here in Mobile, retirees weighing their choices often ask the same first question: what do these letters actually mean?

What Medigap does — and what it doesn't do

Medigap is designed for people who stay in Original Medicare. When you have both, Medicare pays its share of your approved medical costs first, and then your Medigap policy pays its share of what's left.

A few things worth knowing up front:

• Medigap only works with Original Medicare. It does not work with Medicare Advantage plans.
• Medigap policies generally do not include prescription drug coverage. For that, most people add a separate Part D drug plan.
• Medigap does not cover long-term care, vision, dental, hearing aids, or private-duty nursing.
• You pay a monthly premium to the insurance company, on top of your Part B premium.

Why the letters exist

Here's the part that trips people up. In most states, including Alabama, Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. That means Plan G from one insurance company covers the exact same set of benefits as Plan G from another insurance company. Same with Plan N, Plan K, and so on.

The letters — A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N — each represent a different mix of benefits. Once you pick a letter, the coverage is the same no matter which company sells it. What can differ is the price, the customer service, and how the company handles rate increases over time.

That's a big deal, because it means you can compare Medigap plans mostly on price and reputation, not on fine print.

A quick tour of what the letters cover

Every standardized Medigap plan covers at least some core benefits, such as Part A hospital coinsurance. From there, the plans build up. Some pay the Part B deductible. Some cover skilled nursing coinsurance. Some help with foreign travel emergencies. Plans K and L are cost-sharing plans, meaning you pay a percentage until you hit an out-of-pocket limit.

One important note: Plans C and F are only available to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If you turned 65 more recently, you'll see Plan G and Plan N mentioned most often, because they're the more comprehensive options still open to new enrollees.

You can see a side-by-side chart of every letter's benefits on Medicare.gov.

When you can buy Medigap matters — a lot

The best window to buy a Medigap policy is your Medigap Open Enrollment Period. It's a six-month window that starts the month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During that window, insurance companies must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health history.

Miss that window, and in most cases, insurers can use medical underwriting. That means they can charge you more — or turn you down — based on your health. Alabama does not have the extra state-level guaranteed-issue protections that a handful of other states offer, so timing really matters here.

The local picture in Mobile

Mobile is in Mobile County, where residents on Original Medicare can shop from multiple insurance companies licensed to sell Medigap policies in Alabama. Because the plans are standardized, the letter you choose will look the same whether you buy it from a national carrier or a regional one. The Alabama Department of Insurance keeps a list of licensed Medigap carriers, and Medicare.gov's plan finder lets you sort available policies by ZIP code.

For personalized help — free and unbiased — Alabama's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) has trained counselors who can walk you through your options. In Alabama, SHIP goes by the name AlabamaSHIP.