Medicare Supplement

Before you pick a Medigap insurer in Denver, read this

In Denver, shoppers often assume a Medigap Plan G from one company must be somehow different from a Plan G at another. It isn't. Under federal rules, the letter is the coverage. What changes from insurer to insurer is the price, how that price will move over time, and whether you'll have to answer health questions to get in. Denver is in Denver County, and Colorado residents can compare every insurer selling a given letter here using the Medicare.gov Medigap policy search and the state's rate guide.

The letter is the coverage — the company is not

Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. That means Plan G is Plan G, whether you buy it from a national insurer or a smaller regional one. The benefits, the deductibles that apply, and what the plan pays after Medicare pays are identical across companies.

People newly eligible for Medicare today can choose from Plans A, B, D, G, high-deductible G, K, L, M and N. Plans C and F remain available only to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.

So when you compare "the same plan letter" across insurers in Denver, you are really comparing four things: the premium, how the insurer sets and raises that premium, whether there's a household discount, and whether you need to pass medical underwriting to enroll.

The three ways insurers price the same plan

Colorado allows insurers to use any of three pricing methods, and the method matters as much as the starting premium.

Attained-age rated. The premium is based on your current age and typically rises as you get older. It can look inexpensive at 65 and cost noticeably more at 75 or 80.

Issue-age rated. The premium is based on the age you were when you first bought the policy. It doesn't rise just because you had a birthday, though it can still go up for inflation or claims across the whole pool.

Community rated (also called no-age-rated). Everyone who has the policy pays roughly the same premium, regardless of age. Younger buyers may pay more than they would elsewhere; older buyers often pay less than they would with attained-age pricing.

None of these is automatically better. The right question is which one fits how long you plan to hold the policy and how you want your premium to behave over time.

Rate history: the number nobody puts on the brochure

Every Medigap premium can go up. What you want to know is how often, and by how much, a given insurer has raised rates on the plan letter you're considering — especially for people who have held the policy for several years.

The Colorado Division of Insurance publishes a Medigap rate guide that shows current premiums and, in many cases, recent rate history for insurers licensed in the state. Reading that guide alongside the Medicare.gov Medigap search gives you a fuller picture than a single quote ever will.

Household discounts and other things to ask

Many insurers offer a household discount when two people in the same home enroll, and some offer a smaller discount if you simply live with another adult, whether or not that person has the same plan. The discount amount and the rules vary by company.

A few other questions worth asking each insurer:

• Do you offer a discount for paying annually or by electronic funds transfer?
• Is there a one-time policy fee?
• Do you sell a high-deductible Plan G in Colorado, and how does its rate compare to the standard version?

Underwriting: when the company can say no

Your strongest protection is the six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts the month you're 65 and enrolled in Part B. During that window, any insurer selling Medigap in Colorado has to sell you a policy at its standard rate, no health questions asked.

Outside that window — and outside a handful of federal guaranteed-issue situations — Colorado insurers can generally use medical underwriting. That means they can review your health history and either charge more or turn you down. Different companies use different underwriting rules, so a health condition that disqualifies you at one insurer may not at another. This is one place where working with a licensed agent or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor can help.

How to pull the Denver-specific list

You can see every insurer selling a specific plan letter in your ZIP code in a few minutes:

1. Go to Medicare.gov's Medigap policy search and enter your Denver ZIP code. 2. Filter by the plan letter you're considering. 3. Cross-reference the list with the Colorado Division of Insurance's Medigap rate guide. 4. Call two or three insurers, or a licensed independent agent, to confirm current pricing method, household discount and underwriting questions.

The table on this page lists the standardized plan letters currently available in Colorado. Any insurer selling in Denver must offer coverage that matches those standardized letters exactly.