Medicare Supplement

Medigap Standardized Plan Letters Explained for Northglenn

NORTHGLENN, Colo. — If you've ever tried to make sense of Medicare Supplement insurance, you've probably run into a strange alphabet: Plan A, Plan B, Plan G, Plan N, and a few others. These letters aren't grades or rankings. They're standardized plan designs — and understanding how they work can save you from one of the most common Medicare mistakes: buying coverage that overlaps with what you already have, or missing a window to buy the coverage you actually need.

Here's a plain-English look at what Medigap does, what it doesn't, and how those letters fit together.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medicare Supplement insurance, often called Medigap, is private insurance that works alongside Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). It helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copayments, and hospital deductibles.

Medigap is not Medicare Advantage. That's a common mix-up. Medicare Advantage (Part C) replaces the way you get your Original Medicare benefits and is offered by private insurers with their own networks and rules. Medigap, by contrast, sits on top of Original Medicare. You can't have both a Medigap policy and a Medicare Advantage plan at the same time.

Medigap also does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want help with drug costs, you'll need a separate Part D plan. According to Medicare.gov, drug coverage has changed in a big way for 2025 and 2026: the old "donut hole" is gone, replaced by three simpler phases, and in 2026 there's a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered Part D drugs.

How the standardized letters work

Here's the part that trips people up. In most states, Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. That means Plan G from one insurance company covers the same core benefits as Plan G from another company. The letter defines the benefits — not the brand.

What can differ between companies:

• The monthly premium
• Customer service and billing
• Optional extras a carrier may add on (like limited dental or vision perks)
• How they price the plan over time (age-related pricing methods vary)

So when you're comparing Plan G at one carrier versus Plan G at another, you're mostly comparing price and service, not benefits.

The currently sold letter plans include A, B, D, G, K, L, M, and N. Plans C and F are still held by many people who had them before 2020, but they're no longer sold to people newly eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, because they covered the Part B deductible — something newer enrollees aren't allowed to have covered under federal rules.

What Medigap generally helps with

Depending on the letter you choose, a Medigap policy can help cover:

• Part A hospital coinsurance and extra hospital days
• Part B coinsurance or copayments
• The first three pints of blood
• Hospice care coinsurance
• Skilled nursing facility coinsurance (on most letters)
• The Part A deductible (on most letters)
• Foreign travel emergency care (on some letters, up to plan limits)

Plans K and L work a little differently — they cover a percentage of certain costs and have their own yearly out-of-pocket limits. Plan N has small copays for some office and ER visits.

What Medigap does NOT cover

This is where mistakes get expensive. Medigap does not pay for:

• Prescription drugs (that's Part D)
• Routine dental, vision, or hearing care
• Hearing aids
• Long-term custodial care in a nursing home
• Private-duty nursing

If someone tells you a Medigap plan will "cover everything," that's not accurate. It fills specific gaps in Original Medicare — nothing more.

The one deadline that matters most

The biggest, costliest Medigap mistake has nothing to do with picking the wrong letter. It's missing your Medigap Open Enrollment Period.

This is a one-time, six-month window that starts the month you're 65 and enrolled in Part B. During this window, you have a federal right to buy any Medigap policy sold in your state, at the best available rate for your age, without medical underwriting. Insurers can't turn you down or charge you more because of health conditions.

Once that window closes, in most states insurers can ask health questions and deny coverage or charge more based on your health. A few states have extra protections, but Colorado largely follows the federal rules. If you're approaching 65 in Northglenn, mark that six-month window on your calendar.

A quick note on local plan choices

Northglenn is in Adams County, where residents shopping Medicare have both Original Medicare (which you'd pair with a Medigap and Part D plan) and Medicare Advantage plans available. Medigap availability itself is set at the state level, and the standardized letter benefits are the same nationwide. To see what specific plans and carriers are offered in your ZIP code, the official Plan Finder at Medicare.gov is the most reliable place to look.