Medicare Supplement

Medigap in New York City: the plan letters sold in New York and the rules that shape them

If you live in New York City and you have Original Medicare, a Medigap policy is the extra insurance that helps pay the out-of-pocket costs Medicare Parts A and B leave behind — things like coinsurance and hospital deductibles. Which policies you can buy is set in Albany and in federal rules, not by your ZIP code. So a shopper in Manhattan sees the same standardized plan letters as a shopper in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island.

Here is what you can buy in New York today, how these policies fit alongside a Part D drug plan, and where to check specifics before you sign anything.

What Medigap is — and what it is not

Medigap is private insurance that sits on top of Original Medicare. After Medicare pays its share of a covered service, your Medigap policy pays some or all of the coinsurance, copays and deductibles that would otherwise be yours.

A Medigap policy does not stand on its own. You must be enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B to buy one. It also does not cover most prescription drugs, dental, vision or hearing. And you cannot use a Medigap policy with a Medicare Advantage plan — Medigap is for people who stick with Original Medicare.

The plan letters you can buy in New York

Medigap policies are standardized by the federal government, which means a Plan G from one company covers the same medical benefits as a Plan G from another. What changes between companies is the price and the customer service, not the covered benefits.

People newly eligible for Medicare in New York today can choose among these standardized letters:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G
• High-deductible Plan G
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F still exist, but under federal law they are sold only to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If that is you and you have not yet enrolled, you may still be able to buy one.

Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize their Medigap plans differently. New York uses the federal letter system.

How Medigap pairs with Part D

Because Medigap does not include drug coverage, most people in New York City who choose Original Medicare plus Medigap also enroll in a stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. A few program-level Part D facts to know for 2026:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap has been eliminated; there are now three payment phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments if you opt in.
• IRMAA income-related surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

Part D plans can be changed each fall during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7. Medigap has its own enrollment rules, described below.

The New York rules that shape your choice

Two features of New York state law are worth understanding before you shop.

First, New York uses community rating for Medigap. That means insurers cannot charge you more because of your age or because you developed a health condition after enrolling. Everyone with the same plan letter from the same insurer in the same area pays the same base premium. This is different from most states, where premiums often rise as you age.

Second, New York offers broader access to Medigap than federal law alone requires. In many situations, New Yorkers can apply for a Medigap policy without going through medical underwriting — even outside the initial six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts when you first have Part B at age 65 or older.

These rules are nuanced and they do change. Before you switch or apply, confirm your current rights with the New York State Department of Financial Services (which publishes a Medigap rate guide) or the New York State Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP), the state's SHIP.

How to find the insurers that sell each plan

Because insurers come and go, the table below on this page will show what is available where you live, but the most current, ZIP-level list lives on Medicare.gov. Three good places to start:

• Medicare.gov's Medigap policy search, which you can filter by your New York City ZIP code and by plan letter.
• The New York State Department of Financial Services Medigap rate guide, which lists approved insurers and the premiums they have filed.
• HIICAP, New York's free SHIP counseling service, for one-on-one help comparing options.

No single letter is "best" for everyone. Plan G and Plan N tend to be popular among newly eligible enrollees, but the right fit depends on how often you expect to use care, what premium you can afford, and whether you value predictable copays or lower monthly cost.