Medicare Supplement

New to Medicare in Kansas City? Start with the letters

Kansas City, Mo. — If you have Original Medicare and you're trying to make sense of Medicare Supplement Insurance — better known as Medigap — the first thing to know is that the letters on the shelf are set by federal law. In Missouri, the same standardized plans are available whether you live in the Northland, midtown, or south of the Plaza. What changes from one insurer to the next is the price and the service, not the benefits inside a given letter.

Here's how the lettered plans work, how they fit with Original Medicare and a Part D drug plan, and where to look up the specific policies sold in your ZIP code.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medigap is private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind, like coinsurance and copays after Part A and Part B pay their share. It rides alongside Original Medicare; it is not a replacement for it.

A few things Medigap is not:

• It is not Medicare Advantage. You cannot legally have both at once.
• It does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want drug coverage, you add a stand-alone Part D plan.
• It is not the same as Medicaid or an employer retiree plan, though it can sometimes coordinate with them.

The standardized letters you can buy in Missouri

Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government in 47 states, including Missouri. That means a Plan G from one company covers the same medical benefits as a Plan G from another. (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize their plans differently — but that doesn't affect Kansas City residents on the Missouri side.)

If you're newly eligible for Medicare today, these are the letters available in Missouri:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G (and a high-deductible version, sometimes written Plan G-HD)
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F are closed to anyone 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 them.

Each letter covers a different mix of Part A and Part B cost-sharing. Some, like K and L, share costs with you up to a yearly out-of-pocket limit. Others, like G, pick up most everyday cost-sharing after you meet the Part B deductible. Medicare.gov has a side-by-side chart of what each letter covers — that's the clearest place to compare benefits before you shop by price.

How Medigap pairs with Part D — and the 2026 numbers to know

Because Medigap doesn't cover prescriptions, most people who buy a Medigap policy also enroll in a Part D drug plan. Together they give you medical coverage through Original Medicare + Medigap, and drug coverage through Part D.

A few 2026 Part D facts worth knowing while you plan:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026. Once you hit it, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615.
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs into monthly payments across the year, at no extra charge, if that helps with budgeting.
• IRMAA — the income-related surcharge on Part B and Part D — starts above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

Missouri rules that shape your choice

Kansas City is in Jackson County, and the Medigap policies for sale to Kansas City residents on the Missouri side follow Missouri rules. Two points matter most:

Your open enrollment window is federal. When you're first enrolled in Part B at age 65 or older, you get a six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. During those six months, an insurer must sell you any Medigap policy it offers at its best available rate, without asking health questions. Miss that window, and outside of a handful of guaranteed-issue situations, insurers can use medical underwriting.

Missouri has an "anniversary" rule. Missouri allows people already enrolled in a Medigap policy to switch to the same lettered plan with another insurer around their policy anniversary each year, without medical underwriting. The details matter — the exact window and how to use it — so confirm the current rules with the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance or with CLAIM, the state SHIP, before you switch.

Two policies with the same letter cover the same benefits, but insurers price them differently — some use community rating, some use issue-age, some use attained-age. Ask any insurer or agent which method they use and how rates have changed for current policyholders. The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance publishes a Medigap rate guide that lists premiums by company for comparison.

How to find the specific policies sold in your ZIP code

Because we don't publish a company-by-company list here, use these official tools:

• Medicare.gov Medigap policy search. Enter your Kansas City ZIP code and it shows every insurer licensed to sell each lettered plan in your area.
• Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. Its consumer Medigap rate guide compares premiums by company.
• CLAIM (Missouri's SHIP). Free, unbiased one-on-one counseling by phone or in person.
• 1-800-MEDICARE. Available 24/7 for general Medicare questions.

The table below lists what's available in your area from the Medigap policy search.