Medicare Supplement

Which Medigap letters can Anaheim shoppers still buy?

If you live in Anaheim and are shopping for a Medicare Supplement policy — also called Medigap — the first thing to know is that these plans are federally standardized. That means a Plan G sold by one company covers the same core benefits as a Plan G sold by another. What changes from company to company is the price and the customer service, not the benefits inside the letter.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medigap is private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind, such as coinsurance, copays and, depending on the letter, the Part A and Part B deductibles.

A Medigap policy pairs only with Original Medicare. If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you cannot use a Medigap policy at the same time. And because Medigap does not include prescription drug coverage, most people who choose Original Medicare also enroll in a stand-alone Part D drug plan.

The plan letters you can buy in California today

Anaheim is in Orange County, and the letters offered here are the same ones offered across California. If you are newly eligible for Medicare today, your choices are:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G
• Plan G high-deductible (Plan G-HD)
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F are still in force for people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, but they are closed to anyone who became eligible after that date. Each letter has a fixed set of benefits defined by federal rules, which you can review side-by-side on Medicare.gov.

How Medigap and Part D fit together

Think of it as a three-part setup:

1. Original Medicare (Parts A and B) is your base coverage. 2. A Medigap policy fills in some of what Original Medicare doesn't pay. 3. A stand-alone Part D plan covers your prescriptions.

For 2026, Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs and a maximum deductible of $615. The old coverage gap — the "donut hole" — was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases instead of four. If your drug costs are uneven from month to month, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread them across the calendar year at no added cost. Higher-income enrollees may also pay an IRMAA surcharge on Part B and Part D; for a single filer in 2026, that begins above $109,000 in income.

California rules that shape the choice

California layers its own protections on top of federal Medigap law. The best-known is often called the "birthday rule," which gives Medigap enrollees an annual window around their birthday to switch to an equal or lesser-benefit plan without going through medical underwriting. There are also specific guaranteed-issue rights that go beyond the federal minimum in certain situations.

Because these state rules can change and the details matter, confirm your rights with the California Department of Insurance or with the state's Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), which is California's SHIP.

How Medigap is priced — and why the same letter can cost different amounts

Even though the benefits inside a letter are identical from company to company, the premium is not. Insurers use different pricing methods (community-rated, issue-age-rated, or attained-age-rated), and premiums also reflect where you live, your age when you buy, tobacco use, and any household or enrollment discounts a company offers.

Two people on the same block in Anaheim can pay very different premiums for the same letter, depending on which company they buy from and when they applied. That is why comparing quotes — and asking how the premium is expected to change over time — matters as much as picking the letter.

Where to look for policies sold in Anaheim

Because insurer participation and pricing change, we do not list carriers here. Instead, use these official sources:

• Medicare.gov Medigap policy search: enter your Anaheim ZIP code to see the letters and companies available to you.
• California Department of Insurance Medigap rate guide: shows current premium ranges by company for California residents.
• HICAP (California's SHIP): free, one-on-one counseling that is not tied to any insurance company.
• 1-800-MEDICARE: available 24/7 for general Medicare questions.