Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Passaic during 2026 Annual Enrollment: what the fall window does not change

Fall 2026 — If you live in Passaic and you are weighing changes during Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period, here is the piece most guides skip: the October 15 to December 7, 2026 window is for Medicare Advantage and Part D. It is not a Medigap enrollment window. Medigap — also called Medicare Supplement — runs on its own set of federal and state rules, and understanding that difference is what keeps people from getting stuck later.

What the fall window does — and does not — change

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. Any change you make takes effect January 1, 2027. If you do nothing, your current plan renews for 2027 if it is still offered, with whatever changes are listed in the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) your plan mailed you in September.

During the window, you can:

• Switch from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan, or the other way around.
• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another.
• Join, drop or change a Part D drug plan.

What the window does not do: it does not give you a new right to buy a Medigap policy. Medigap has no annual enrollment period. You can apply for a Medigap policy any time of year, but outside protected situations, the insurer can look at your health history and decide whether to sell you a policy and at what price.

Moving from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare with Medigap

This is where people in Passaic get caught. Say you drop a Medicare Advantage plan during Annual Enrollment and return to Original Medicare for January 1, 2027. Original Medicare has no yearly out-of-pocket cap on Part A and B services, which is why most people pair it with a Medigap policy. But applying for that Medigap policy is a separate step — and unless you have a guaranteed-issue right, the insurer can use medical underwriting.

Medical underwriting means the company can ask about your health, look at prescription records, and either charge more, exclude pre-existing conditions for a period, or turn you down. This is very different from the protections you had when you first became eligible for Medicare.

Federal trial rights and guaranteed-issue situations

Federal law gives you a guaranteed right to buy certain Medigap policies in specific situations. The two that come up most after an Annual Enrollment change:

• First-year trial right for new-to-Medicare-Advantage enrollees. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan when you first became eligible for Medicare at 65, and you leave it within the first 12 months, you generally have a guaranteed right to buy any Medigap policy sold in your state.
• First-year trial right for people who dropped Medigap to try Medicare Advantage. If you had a Medigap policy, dropped it to try Medicare Advantage for the first time, and leave the Advantage plan within 12 months, you generally have a right to get your prior Medigap policy back (or, if not available, another specified policy) from any insurer.

Other guaranteed-issue situations exist — for example, when a plan leaves your service area or ends. New Jersey may also have additional protections. Because those rules can change and the deadlines are strict (usually 63 days), confirm your specific situation with New Jersey SHIP or the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance before you make a move.

The Medigap letters sold in New Jersey

Medigap plans are standardized by letter. That means Plan G from one insurer covers the same core benefits as Plan G from another — the difference is price, customer service and any extras. In New Jersey, the standardized letters available today to people newly eligible for Medicare are A, B, D, G, G-HD (a high-deductible version of Plan G), K, L, M and N. Plans C and F are only available to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.

We do not publish a New Jersey insurer list here because premiums and participation change often. To see who sells what in Passaic:

• Use the Medigap policy search at medicare.gov by ZIP code.
• Ask New Jersey SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) for the current rate guide.
• Check the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance website for its Medigap consumer guide.

What is confirmed for 2027 — and what is not

Passaic is in Passaic County, and the Medicare Advantage and Part D plans available locally are set at the county level. A few program-level 2027 figures are already public from CMS:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,400 in 2027 (up from $2,100 in 2026).
• Part D maximum deductible: $700 in 2027 (up from $615 in 2026).
• Part D national base beneficiary premium: $41.33 for 2027 — this is a formula input, not what any specific plan charges.

The 2027 Part B standard premium and deductible, and the 2027 IRMAA income brackets, have not yet been announced. CMS typically publishes those in the fall, usually November. Do not rely on projections in the meantime.

Also worth remembering for 2026: the Part D coverage gap ("donut hole") no longer exists — there are three phases now — and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the calendar year in monthly amounts if that helps your budget.

A short checklist before December 7, 2026

• Read your plan's ANOC — the Annual Notice of Change — to see how your 2027 coverage differs from 2026.
• If you are thinking about leaving Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare, check whether you would qualify for Medigap without underwriting before you make the switch.
• Compare Part D plans on medicare.gov using your current drug list and pharmacy.
• If you need help, call 1-800-MEDICARE or your local SHIP counselor — the counseling is free and unbiased.