Medicare Supplement

Medicare Supplement Basics for Rockford: Letters A Through N

If you're new to Medicare in Rockford, you've probably heard the term "Medigap" tossed around at kitchen tables and church coffee hours. Medicare Supplement insurance — the formal name for Medigap — is a type of private policy that helps pay some of the costs Original Medicare leaves behind. It's not the same as a Medicare Advantage plan, and it works differently than Part D drug coverage.

Rockford, Ill. — Making sense of Medicare Supplement insurance

Here's a plain-English guide to what Medigap does, what it doesn't, and how those confusing letter names (Plan A, Plan G, Plan N and so on) actually work.

What Medigap is designed to do

Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pays a large share of your hospital and doctor bills, but not all of it. You're still responsible for things like the Part A hospital deductible, the Part B 20% coinsurance, and other cost-sharing amounts. Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies to help cover those gaps — hence the nickname.

A Medigap policy only works alongside Original Medicare. You can't pair a Medigap plan with a Medicare Advantage plan; those are two different paths through the program.

Medigap also does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want help with drug costs, you'd add a separate stand-alone Part D plan.

How the standardized letter plans work

This is where a lot of Rockford readers get tripped up. In most states, including Illinois, Medigap policies are standardized by the federal government and labeled with letters: A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N. (Plans C and F are only available to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.)

Standardization means the benefits inside "Plan G" from Company X are the same as "Plan G" from Company Y. What can differ:

• The premium each insurer charges
• Customer service and how claims are handled
• Whether the policy offers any small extras like a household discount

So when you compare Medigap policies, you're mostly comparing price and company reputation for the same set of benefits — not comparing benefits themselves. That's very different from Medicare Advantage shopping.

What each letter generally helps pay

Every lettered Medigap plan covers a core set of items, then adds more depending on the letter. In general, Medigap plans can help with:

• Part A hospital coinsurance and extra hospital days after Medicare runs out
• Part B coinsurance or copays
• The first three pints of blood
• Part A hospice coinsurance
• Skilled nursing facility coinsurance (on most letters)
• The Part A deductible (on most letters)
• Foreign travel emergency care (on some letters)

Plans K and L work differently — they cover a percentage of costs and include an annual out-of-pocket limit. Plan N has small copays for certain office and ER visits. The full side-by-side chart is on Medicare.gov.

What Medigap does not cover

Medigap is not a catch-all. It generally won't pay for:

• Prescription drugs (you'll need a Part D plan for that)
• Routine dental, vision or hearing care
• Hearing aids
• Long-term custodial care
• Private-duty nursing

That's why many Rockford retirees pair Medigap with a stand-alone Part D drug plan and, if they want, a separate dental/vision policy.

A quick note on Rockford and Winnebago County

Rockford is in Winnebago County, where Medicare beneficiaries have access to both Original Medicare with a Medigap policy and Medicare Advantage plans offered by private carriers. Medigap availability isn't limited by county the way Medicare Advantage is — but the premiums insurers can charge in Illinois can vary by ZIP code and by your age at enrollment.

One rule Illinois residents should know: your strongest protections to buy any Medigap policy — with no health questions asked — are during your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which starts the month your Part B coverage begins and you're 65 or older. Miss that window, and insurers in Illinois are generally allowed to use medical underwriting, which can affect whether you're accepted or what you pay.

A few 2026 numbers worth knowing

Even though Medigap has its own pricing, it sits inside the broader Medicare program. For 2026:

• Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs.
• The Part D deductible can be up to $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three simpler phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly amounts.
• IRMAA income surcharges start above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.
• Annual Enrollment runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7, and Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs Jan. 1 – March 31.

Medigap has its own enrollment rules, separate from those windows.