Medicare Supplement

Before You Renew Medigap in Tempe, Check These Items

TEMPE, Ariz. — If you are shopping a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy in Tempe this fall, a few moving parts are worth knowing before you sign anything. The plan letters you can buy depend on when you first became eligible for Medicare, the Part B deductible that Plans G and N are built around resets on January 1, and Arizona insurers file new Medigap rates with the state each year. None of this changes what a Medigap policy is — it still fills gaps in Original Medicare — but the details around it do shift from year to year.

The plan-letter rules haven't changed — but they still trip people up

Medigap plans are standardized by letter, which means a Plan G from one insurer covers the same core benefits as a Plan G from another. What differs between carriers is price, customer service, and whether they offer certain letters at all.

The rule to remember: if you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, you cannot buy Plans C or F. Those two plans paid the Part B deductible, and federal law closed them to newly eligible enrollees. If you were eligible before that date, you can still buy or keep them.

For everyone else, the letters on the menu are A, B, D, G, G High-Deductible, K, L, M and N. Plan G and Plan N are the two most commonly sold to newly eligible people, and both leave the Part B deductible for you to pay.

The Part B deductible resets January 1 — and it matters for Plans G and N

Plans G and N are designed so that you pay the Part B deductible once a year, and then the plan picks up the Part B coinsurance from there (Plan N also has small copays for some office and ER visits). Every January 1, that deductible resets to zero and starts over at the new-year amount that CMS publishes.

Two practical points for Tempe readers:

• You will pay that deductible again in early 2026, even if you already met it in 2025.
• If you are comparing a Plan G against a Plan G High-Deductible, the "high-deductible" version has a much larger yearly amount you pay before the plan begins covering costs. It is a different math problem, not a different set of benefits.

The exact 2026 Part B deductible is posted at Medicare.gov under "Medicare costs."

Rate-adjustment season in Arizona: how to actually check

Medigap premiums are not set by Medicare. Each insurer files proposed rates with the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, and those filings are public. Rates can change once a year, and the change usually shows up on your renewal notice.

If your renewal letter arrives and the new premium surprises you, you can:

1. Look up the insurer's most recent Arizona rate filing on the department's website. 2. Compare the same plan letter across other carriers at Medicare.gov's Medigap policy search — because the benefits are standardized, you are comparing apples to apples on price and service. 3. Ask your Arizona SHIP counselor to walk through your options, at no cost.

One thing to know before switching: outside your one-time Medigap Open Enrollment Period (the six months starting when you are 65 and enrolled in Part B), Arizona insurers can generally use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept you and at what price. That is a bigger factor than any single rate change.

Insurers selling Medigap in Arizona

Tempe is in Maricopa County, and Arizona's Medigap market is set at the state level — the same carriers licensed to sell here serve Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix and the rest of the state. The table on this page lists every insurer currently offering Medigap in Arizona and which plan letters each one sells.

You will see familiar names alongside less familiar ones. AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona, Humana (Humana Insurance Company), Mutual of Omaha (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company) and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company all appear in the roster, along with regional and specialty carriers like Bankers Life (Underwritten by Washington National Insurance Company), Medico Insurance Company and WoodmenLife. Which letters each one sells is what determines whether they are even an option for you — for example, if you want a high-deductible Plan G, only some carriers on the list offer it.

Insurers can add or drop plan letters over time, and can enter or leave the Arizona market. Medicare.gov's Medigap policy search shows the current, licensed list at any point in the year.

What Tempe readers should do this season

• Confirm which plan letters you are eligible for based on your original Medicare eligibility date.
• If you already have a Medigap policy, read your renewal notice carefully when it arrives.
• If you want to compare, use Medicare.gov's Medigap policy search for Arizona ZIP codes, and check the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions for rate filings.
• Call Arizona SHIP for free, unbiased counseling before you switch — especially if you are outside your Open Enrollment Period and underwriting could apply.