Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Phoenix: which standardized plan letters Arizona shoppers can still buy

Phoenix retirees shopping for a Medicare Supplement policy — often called Medigap — face a menu that looks the same from one insurer to the next, on purpose. Federal rules lock every company that sells Medigap in Arizona into the same lettered plans, so a Plan G from one carrier covers the same core benefits as a Plan G from another. What changes is the price, the customer service, and how the insurer decides to raise premiums over time.

Medicare SupplementPhoenix, AZ

Here is how the letters work in Arizona, how Medigap fits with Original Medicare and a Part D drug plan, and where Phoenix residents can go for personal answers.

What Medigap actually does

Medigap is private insurance that sits on top of Original Medicare. It helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like the Part A hospital deductible, coinsurance for long hospital stays, and the 20% you would otherwise owe for Part B services.

It does not replace Medicare. It works alongside it. And it does not include prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, hearing, or fitness benefits. If those matter to you, you buy them separately or you consider a Medicare Advantage plan instead — but you cannot have both a Medigap policy and a Medicare Advantage plan at the same time.

The letters you can buy in Arizona

Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. In Arizona, the plans available to someone newly eligible for Medicare today are:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G
• High-deductible Plan G
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F still exist, but only for people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If that is you, you may still be able to buy them; if you aged into Medicare after that date, they are off the menu.

Each letter is a fixed benefit package. A Plan N is a Plan N no matter which company sells it. That makes shopping easier — you are really comparing price and the insurer behind the policy, not the coverage itself.

How Medigap pairs with Part D

Because Medigap does not cover prescriptions, most Phoenix residents who choose Medigap also enroll in a standalone Medicare Part D drug plan. The two work independently: Medigap handles the gaps in your medical coverage, Part D handles your pharmacy costs.

A few 2026 Part D facts worth knowing:

• The out-of-pocket cap is $2,100. Once your drug spending hits that limit, you pay $0 for covered drugs for the rest of the year.
• The maximum deductible any Part D plan can charge is $615.
• The old coverage gap (the "donut hole") was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying a large amount at the pharmacy counter.

If your income is above $109,000 as a single filer in 2026, an IRMAA surcharge may be added to your Part B and Part D premiums.

Timing: when to buy matters more than most people realize

The single most important rule in Medigap is timing. During your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period — which begins the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B — insurers must sell you any Medigap plan they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health history.

Outside that window, in most cases, insurers in Arizona can use medical underwriting. That means they can ask about your health and, depending on the answers, charge more or turn you down. There are limited federal guaranteed-issue rights (for example, if certain other coverage ends), and Arizona may offer additional protections. For the specifics of your situation, check with the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions or the state SHIP before you make a change.

How premiums are set

Two Medigap policies with the exact same letter can be priced very differently. That is because insurers use different pricing methods — community-rated, issue-age-rated, or attained-age-rated — and each behaves differently as you get older. Ask any insurer you are considering which method they use for the plan you are looking at, and how their rates have changed for existing members in recent years. That question tells you far more than the first-year premium alone.

Where to find Phoenix-area insurers and prices

We do not publish a carrier list here because we cannot verify the current Arizona lineup at a level of detail we would stand behind. Instead, use these sources — all free, all official:

• Medicare.gov Medigap policy search. Enter your Phoenix ZIP code to see every Medigap policy sold in your area, by letter and by insurer.
• Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. The department publishes a Medigap rate guide showing approved premiums.
• Arizona SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program). Free, one-on-one counseling from trained volunteers. They do not sell anything.
• 1-800-MEDICARE. Available 24/7 for general Medicare questions.

The table below lists every Medigap letter available in Arizona so you can see the standardized options side by side before you call.