Medicare Supplement

Medigap Won't Cover Your Drugs — Add Part D Before the Clock Runs Out

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — If you're pairing Original Medicare with a Medigap policy here in Hollywood, there's one gap that trips people up more than any other: prescription drugs. Medigap policies sold today do not cover them. That job belongs to a separate, stand-alone Part D plan — and if you wait too long to sign up, Medicare can tack a penalty onto your premium for as long as you have drug coverage.

The good news is that the three pieces — Original Medicare, Medigap, and Part D — are designed to work side by side. You just have to enroll in each one on time.

How the three pieces fit together

Think of it as a stack. Original Medicare (Part A for hospital, Part B for doctor visits) is the foundation. It pays a big share of your covered medical bills but leaves deductibles and coinsurance behind.

A Medigap policy — also called Medicare Supplement Insurance — is private coverage that helps pay some of those leftover costs, like the Part B coinsurance. Medigap follows Original Medicare; it does not work with Medicare Advantage.

A stand-alone Part D plan is separate private coverage that handles your prescription drugs at the pharmacy. Medigap plans sold to new members today are not allowed to include drug coverage, which is why Part D exists as its own piece.

Put together: Original Medicare + Medigap + Part D = medical coverage, help with cost-sharing, and prescription coverage.

Why Medigap does not cover prescriptions

Older Medigap policies once included some drug coverage, but that changed when Part D was created in 2006. Since then, any new Medigap policy has been sold without drug benefits. If you sign up for Medigap today, you'll need to add Part D on your own — no plan will do it for you automatically.

This surprises a lot of people who assume "supplement" means it fills every gap. It doesn't fill the drug gap.

The Part D late enrollment penalty — and how to avoid it

Here's where timing matters. Medicare wants people to sign up for drug coverage when they first become eligible, not wait until they get sick. If you go 63 days or more in a row without Part D or other "creditable" drug coverage (coverage that's at least as good as Medicare's), you may owe a late enrollment penalty when you eventually enroll.

That penalty is added to your monthly Part D premium — and it sticks for as long as you have Part D coverage. It's not a one-time fee.

To stay out of penalty territory:

• Enroll in Part D when you first become eligible for Medicare, usually during your seven-month Initial Enrollment Period around your 65th birthday.
• Or, keep creditable drug coverage from another source (like an employer plan) and enroll in Part D within 63 days of losing it. Employers are required to send you a notice each year telling you whether their drug coverage is creditable — keep those letters.
• If you missed your window, you can generally add or change a Part D plan during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, with coverage starting January 1.

What Part D looks like in 2026

A few program-level numbers to know:

• The maximum Part D deductible is $615.
• There's a new $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on covered prescriptions. Once you hit it, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments instead of paying big bills at the pharmacy counter.
• Higher-income beneficiaries pay an IRMAA surcharge on Part D and Part B premiums; for a single filer in 2026, that begins above $109,000 in income.

Specific premiums, copays, and drug lists vary from plan to plan, so the right fit depends on which medications you take.

A note on local availability

Hollywood is in Broward County, where Medicare plan availability — including stand-alone Part D plans — is set at the county level. That means two neighbors on the same block generally choose from the same menu of Part D plans. You can compare what's offered in Broward County using the Plan Finder at medicare.gov.