Medicare Supplement

Before You Pick a Detroit Medigap Insurer, Read This

Detroit is in Wayne County, where anyone on Original Medicare can add a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy — also called Medigap — to help cover the out-of-pocket costs Medicare Part A and Part B leave behind. The tricky part isn't picking the coverage. It's figuring out which company to buy it from. Michigan has many insurers that sell Medigap, and the same lettered plan can look identical on paper but be priced very differently from one carrier to the next.

Medicare SupplementDetroit, MI

This guide walks Detroit-area readers through how to find every insurer selling Medigap in Michigan, and how to compare them fairly once you have the list.

The same letter is the same coverage

Medigap is standardized by federal law. That means a Plan G sold by one Michigan insurer covers exactly the same Medicare gaps as a Plan G sold by another. A Plan N is a Plan N. A high-deductible Plan G is a high-deductible Plan G. The benefits do not change from company to company.

What does change is the price, the way that price is set, the discounts a company offers, and how strict the company is about approving you if you apply outside a guaranteed-issue window.

Which plan letters you can buy in Michigan today

People newly eligible for Medicare can choose from these standardized letters:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G
• Plan G High-Deductible (G-HD)
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F are still available, but only to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If that's you and you already have one of these plans, you can generally keep it.

How to find the insurers that sell in Detroit

Michigan does not publish a single official list of Medigap carriers on Medicare.gov itself, so use these three sources together:

1. Medicare.gov Medigap policy search. Enter your Detroit ZIP code at medicare.gov/medigap-supplemental-insurance-plans. It returns every insurer licensed to sell each plan letter in your area, along with contact information. 2. The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) rate guide. DIFS publishes a Medicare Supplement rate comparison that lists licensed carriers and sample premiums by age. 3. The Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program (MMAP). MMAP is Michigan's SHIP — trained, unbiased counselors who can help you read the rate guide and compare your options. Call 1-800-803-7174.

The table below (where shown) lists insurers or plans alphabetically. It is not a ranking.

Three ways insurers price the same plan

When you compare Plan G at Company A to Plan G at Company B, the biggest hidden difference is often the rating method — how the insurer decides what to charge you and how your premium will change as you age.

• Attained-age rated. Your premium is based on your current age and generally goes up as you get older. It often starts lower at 65 but climbs over time.
• Issue-age rated. Your premium is based on the age you were when you bought the policy. It does not increase just because you have a birthday, though it can still rise due to inflation.
• Community rated (also called "no-age-rated"). Everyone in Michigan who has the policy pays the same base premium, regardless of age.

All three types can still see rate increases for inflation, medical trend, or the insurer's overall claims experience. Ask which method the insurer uses before you sign anything.

Rate history, discounts, and underwriting

Beyond the rating method, three more things separate one Michigan insurer from another:

• Rate history. Ask each company (or check the DIFS rate guide) how often it has raised premiums over the last five to ten years. A lower starting premium can catch up quickly if the insurer files large annual increases.
• Household discounts. Some Michigan insurers offer a discount if a spouse or another adult in the household also has a Medigap policy with the company, or in some cases simply lives with another Medicare-eligible adult. The discount percentage and eligibility rules vary a lot.
• Medical underwriting. During your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period — which starts the month your Part B begins at age 65 or older — insurers must sell you any plan they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health. Outside that window, and outside a few guaranteed-issue situations, most Michigan insurers can ask health questions and either decline you or charge more.

That last point is why so many people buy their first Medigap policy at 65. Switching later is possible, but not guaranteed.

A simple way to compare, once you have the list

Once you know which insurers offer the plan letter you want in your Detroit ZIP code, line them up side by side and ask:

• What rating method do you use?
• What have your rate increases looked like the last several years in Michigan?
• Do you offer a household or spousal discount, and do I qualify?
• Will I need to answer health questions, or am I in a guaranteed-issue window?

Because the benefits are identical, these four questions do most of the real comparison work.