Medicare Supplement

How to compare the same Medigap letter across insurers in Honolulu

Honolulu shoppers who have narrowed their Medicare Supplement search down to a single plan letter — say, Plan G or Plan N — often hit the same wall next: the coverage is identical from company to company, but the price and the fine print behind that price are not. Here is how to line up insurers in Hawaii on an apples-to-apples basis without getting lost.

Start with the letters, not the logos

Medigap plans are standardized by federal law. A Plan G from one company pays the same share of Medicare-covered costs as a Plan G from any other company. That is the anchor to hold onto: once you know your letter, the coverage question is settled, and you are really shopping for a price and a company you trust to pay claims and raise rates predictably.

People newly eligible for Medicare today can buy 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.

Find the insurers selling in Honolulu

There is no single public roster of Medigap carriers we can print for Hawaii, because the list changes and insurers file by service area. Honolulu is in Honolulu County, and to see who is currently selling there, use these three sources together:

• Medicare.gov Medigap policy search. Enter your Honolulu ZIP code and the plan letter you want. You will get a list of every insurer licensed to sell that letter in your area, with sample premiums for your age.
• Hawaii Insurance Division's Medigap rate guide. The state publishes a comparison of Medigap premiums by insurer. It is a useful cross-check to what Medicare.gov shows.
• Sage PLUS (Hawaii SHIP). Hawaii's State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers free, unbiased counseling and can walk you through the current insurer list for your ZIP.

Pull the same plan letter from all three sources and you will have a clean short list to compare.

Understand the three pricing methods

Two insurers can quote very different premiums for the same letter because they use different rating methods. Ask each company which one applies:

• Attained-age rated. The premium is based on your current age and typically rises as you get older.
• Issue-age rated. The premium is based on your age when you bought the policy and does not go up simply because you had a birthday.
• Community-rated. Everyone in the same area pays the same base premium, regardless of age.

None of these is automatically "better." An attained-age policy may start lower and climb; an issue-age or community-rated policy may start higher but rise more slowly. What matters is how the premium will likely behave over 10 or 20 years, not just what it looks like in month one.

Ask about rate history

Standardized coverage means the only lever an insurer has is price — and premiums do change. Before you enroll, ask each company (or ask your SHIP counselor to pull) the last few years of rate increases in Hawaii for that plan letter. A carrier with a steadier history may be worth more than a slightly lower opening quote from a carrier that has raised rates sharply. The Hawaii Insurance Division and Medicare.gov can both help you see this pattern.

Household discounts and underwriting

Two more questions can meaningfully change what you pay and whether you can even switch later:

• Household discount. Some insurers reduce the premium — often by a set percentage — if you live with another adult, are married, or have a spouse also enrolled with them. Rules vary by company, so ask directly.
• Medical underwriting. During your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period (which starts when you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B), insurers must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at their best available rate, regardless of health. Outside that window, most insurers in Hawaii can ask health questions and decline you or charge more. If you are thinking about switching carriers later to chase a lower rate, know that underwriting may stand in the way.

Put it on one page

A simple side-by-side comparison — same plan letter, three or four insurers, one row each for current premium, rating method, recent rate increases, household discount, and whether underwriting applies — is usually enough to make a confident choice. That is exactly the kind of chart a Sage PLUS counselor can help you build.