Medicare Supplement

What Medicare Supplement covers alongside Part A and B in Perth Amboy

PERTH AMBOY, N.J. — If you have Original Medicare (Part A and Part B), you already know it does not pay for everything. There are deductibles, coinsurance, and cost-sharing that can add up in a year with a hospital stay or a long stretch of specialist visits.

Why Medigap exists in the first place

That is where a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy — better known as Medigap — comes in. It is private insurance that works alongside Original Medicare to help pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Medicare leaves behind.

Medigap is not the same thing as Medicare Advantage. Advantage plans (Part C) replace the way you get your Medicare. Medigap rides along with Original Medicare and helps fill the gaps. You cannot have both at the same time.

What the letters actually mean

Here is the part that trips people up. Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies, but the benefits inside each plan are standardized by the federal government. That means a Plan G from one company covers the same Medicare-approved costs as a Plan G from another company.

In most states, including New Jersey, Medigap plans are labeled by letter: A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. Each letter is a different package of benefits. Some cover a little, some cover almost everything.

A few things worth knowing about the letters:

• Plans C and F are only available to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If you turned 65 after that, those two are off the table for you.
• Plans K and L have lower monthly premiums but higher out-of-pocket limits — you share more of the cost.
• Plan N typically has small copays for some office and emergency room visits.
• Plan G has become one of the most common choices for people newly eligible, because it covers most gaps except the Part B deductible.

Because the benefits are standardized, the real differences between companies come down to price, customer service, and how they raise premiums over time.

What Medigap does not cover

Medigap is focused on filling the holes in Original Medicare — hospital and medical coverage. It generally does not cover:

• Prescription drugs (you would enroll in a separate Part D plan for that)
• Routine dental, vision, or hearing
• Long-term custodial care
• Private-duty nursing

So a common setup for someone on Original Medicare is: Part A + Part B + a Medigap policy + a stand-alone Part D drug plan. In 2026, Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs and a maximum deductible of $615, which is helpful to keep in mind while you plan.

When you can buy a Medigap policy

Timing matters more with Medigap than almost anything else in Medicare.

Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period is a six-month window that starts the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During this window, insurance companies must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at the same price they charge healthy people, regardless of your health history.

Outside that window, in most states, insurers can use medical underwriting — meaning they can charge you more, or turn you down, based on your health.

New Jersey has some additional consumer protections around Medigap, but the safest move is still to look at your options during that first six-month window. If you miss it, you may still be able to get a policy, just not always on the same terms.

How this looks in Perth Amboy

Perth Amboy is in Middlesex County, where multiple insurance companies sell Medigap policies. Availability itself is set at the state and county level, not the city level, so a shopper in Perth Amboy will generally see the same carriers as a neighbor in Woodbridge or Edison.

Because the benefits inside each lettered plan are identical from company to company, the smart way to compare in Middlesex County is:

1. Pick the letter that matches how much coverage you want. 2. Then compare premiums and the company's rate history for that same letter.

The official plan finder at Medicare.gov lets you enter your ZIP code and see the Medigap policies available to you, along with contact information for each company.