Medicare Supplement

Medigap explained for Farmington Hills: what each letter covers

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — If you've ever tried to make sense of Medicare Supplement insurance, you've probably run into a wall of letters: Plan A, Plan G, Plan N, and more. These policies, often called Medigap, are sold by private insurers but follow rules set by the federal government. Here's a plain-language look at what Medigap does, what it doesn't, and how those standardized letters work.

What Medigap actually does

Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pays for a large share of your hospital and doctor bills, but not all of it. You're still on the hook for deductibles, coinsurance, and copays — and there's no yearly out-of-pocket cap in Original Medicare on its own.

That's the gap Medigap is designed to fill. A Medicare Supplement policy is bought from a private insurer and pays some or all of those leftover costs after Medicare pays its share. Depending on the letter you pick, it might cover the Part A hospital coinsurance, the Part B coinsurance, the first three pints of blood, hospice coinsurance, and more.

Medigap does not replace Medicare. You still have Original Medicare as your primary coverage. The supplement rides alongside it.

How the standardized letters work

Here's the part that trips people up. In most states, Medigap plans come in ten standardized versions, each labeled with a letter: A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. (Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin standardize their plans differently.)

"Standardized" means the benefits inside each letter are set by federal law. A Plan G sold by one insurer must include the same core benefits as a Plan G sold by another. What can differ is the premium, customer service, and any small extras a company chooses to bundle in.

Two important notes:

• Plans C and F are no longer available to people who became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. If you were eligible before that date, you may still be able to buy or keep them.
• High-deductible versions of Plans F and G exist. They carry lower monthly premiums but require you to pay more out of pocket before the plan kicks in.

Because the benefits are identical within a letter, comparing Medigap policies really comes down to price, the company's reputation, and how they handle rate increases over time.

What Medigap does not cover

This is where a lot of new enrollees get surprised. Medigap policies sold today do not include:

• Prescription drugs (you'd need a stand-alone Part D plan)
• Routine dental, vision, or hearing care
• Long-term care, such as a nursing home stay for custodial reasons
• Private-duty nursing
• Eyeglasses or hearing aids

Medigap also does not work with Medicare Advantage. If you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), it's actually against federal law for someone to sell you a Medigap policy. You choose one path or the other.

When to buy — and why timing matters

The best window to buy Medigap is your Medigap Open Enrollment Period: a one-time, six-month window that starts the month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During this window, insurers must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health history.

Outside that window, in most states, insurers can use medical underwriting. That means they can charge you more — or turn you down — based on pre-existing conditions. A few states have extra protections, so it's worth checking your state's rules.

This is different from the fall Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7), which is for Medicare Advantage and Part D — not Medigap. Medigap has its own timing.

A quick note on local context

Medigap is regulated at the federal and state level, so the letter plans available in Farmington Hills are the same standardized letters available nationwide. Farmington Hills is in Oakland County, where residents also have access to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans through the county-level Medicare marketplace — but those are separate products from Medigap.

For personalized help sorting through the options, Michigan's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known locally as MMAP, offers free one-on-one counseling.

A few 2026 numbers worth knowing

While Medigap itself doesn't change year to year in dramatic ways, other parts of Medicare do. For 2026:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $615.
• The coverage gap (the old "donut hole") has been eliminated as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases.
• The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments.
• IRMAA income-based surcharges start above $109,000 for single filers in 2026.

These figures apply to Part D and Medicare more broadly — not to Medigap premiums, which are set by each insurer.