Medicare Supplement

Does Aurora Need Medigap, Part D, or Both?

If you live in Aurora and you're weighing a Medicare Supplement policy, the good news is you don't have to compare hundreds of different plans. Federal law has already done most of the sorting for you. Medigap plans are standardized by letter — Plan A, Plan B, Plan D, Plan G, Plan G-HD, Plan K, Plan L, Plan M and Plan N are the letters a person newly eligible for Medicare can buy today. Plan C and Plan F are still around, but only for people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.

Medicare SupplementAurora, IL

That standardization matters. It means a Plan G from one insurer covers the same core benefits as a Plan G from another. Where insurers can differ is price, customer service, and how they handle rate changes over time.

How Medigap fits with the rest of Medicare

Medigap is a supplement, not a replacement. It sits next to Original Medicare and helps pay some of what Parts A and B leave behind — things like coinsurance, copayments and, depending on the letter, the Part A deductible.

A few ground rules to keep straight:

• Medigap works with Original Medicare only. You cannot use a Medigap plan with a Medicare Advantage plan.
• Medigap does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want drug coverage, you add a stand-alone Part D plan.
• You pay a monthly premium for Medigap on top of your Part B premium.

For 2026, Part D has a $2,100 out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs and a maximum deductible of $615. The old coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases instead of four. If drug costs bunch up in one month, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread them across the year.

The plan letters, in plain English

Every standardized letter is a different package of cost-sharing help. Here's a quick sense of the shape of each — not a ranking, just the outline:

• Plan A covers the basic benefits every Medigap plan must include.
• Plan B adds the Part A hospital deductible on top of Plan A.
• Plan D covers more of the gaps but leaves the Part B deductible to you.
• Plan G is one of the most comprehensive options open to new enrollees; you pay the Part B deductible, and most other Part A and B cost-sharing is picked up.
• Plan G-HD is a high-deductible version of Plan G with a lower premium and a yearly deductible you must meet before it pays.
• Plan K and Plan L cover a percentage of certain costs (rather than 100%) and include an annual out-of-pocket limit.
• Plan M splits the Part A deductible.
• Plan N covers most gaps but has small copays for some office and emergency room visits, and it doesn't cover Part B excess charges.

Plans C and F, again, are only available to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.

Who sells Medigap around Aurora

Aurora sits mostly in Kane County, with parts reaching into DuPage, Kendall and Will counties. Medigap availability, though, is set at the state level in Illinois — the plan letters an insurer files here are the same across the state.

Illinois residents have a long list of insurers to choose from. The table below lists every insurer selling Medigap in Illinois along with the letters they offer. You'll recognize national names like AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company, AFLAC, BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, Humana (Emphesys Insurance Company), Mutual of Omaha (Omaha Insurance Company) and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, along with regional carriers such as Pekin Life Insurance Company and Erie Family Life Insurance Company.

Because every insurer must sell the same standardized letter to the same standard, when you shop, you're really comparing price, financial stability and service — not benefits.

When you can buy without medical questions

The most consumer-friendly window is your Medigap Open Enrollment Period. This is a federal six-month window that starts the first month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During this period, an insurer must sell you any Medigap policy it offers at the same price it charges healthy people. It cannot turn you down for health reasons.

Outside that window, Illinois generally follows federal rules on guaranteed issue rights — situations where you can still buy certain plans without underwriting, such as when your Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area. If you miss your open enrollment window and don't have a guaranteed issue right, insurers can use medical underwriting and may charge more or decline coverage.

Some states have extra protections, such as a "birthday rule" that lets people switch Medigap plans each year without underwriting. Rules can change, so before you rely on a special right, check with the Illinois Department of Insurance or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (called SHIP, or SHIP/SHIBA in Illinois).

How to think about picking a letter

There's no one "right" answer here, and no honest journalist can tell you which plan is best. What you can do is walk through a few questions:

• How often do you see doctors, and how predictable are your costs?
• Do you prefer paying more each month for fewer surprises, or a lower premium with more cost-sharing at the point of care?
• Do you travel? Some Medigap benefits include limited foreign travel emergency coverage.
• Are you willing to meet a deductible (like with Plan G-HD or the closed Plan F-HD) in exchange for a lower monthly premium?

Once you know the letter that fits your situation, then compare insurers on that letter.

One more program-level note for 2026: IRMAA surcharges — extra amounts higher-income beneficiaries pay for Parts B and D — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer. That's separate from your Medigap premium but worth planning around.