Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Minot: How the Lettered Plans Really Work

MINOT, N.D. — If you're new to Medicare or helping a parent sort through mail, you've probably seen the phrase "Medicare Supplement" or "Medigap" and wondered what it actually does. The short answer: it's private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles. Here's a plain-English guide to how these plans are built, why they're sold by letter, and where Minot residents can get trustworthy help.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medigap is extra coverage you can buy from a private insurance company to work alongside Original Medicare (Part A hospital and Part B medical). It doesn't replace Medicare; it fills in gaps.

A few things Medigap does not do:

• It doesn't cover prescription drugs. For that, you'd add a separate Part D plan.
• It doesn't work with Medicare Advantage. You have Medigap or Medicare Advantage — not both.
• It generally doesn't cover dental, vision, hearing aids, or long-term care.

Medigap pays after Medicare pays. So if you go to a clinic in Minot or a hospital in Bismarck, Medicare processes the claim first, and your Medigap plan picks up its share of what's left.

Why plans are sold by letter

Here's what trips people up: Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government and labeled with letters — A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. (Plans C and F are only available to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.)

Standardization means Plan G from one company covers the exact same benefits as Plan G from another company. The federal rulebook is the same. What can differ is the price and the customer service, not the benefits.

So when you're comparing, you're really comparing two things:

1. Which letter plan fits your needs? 2. Which company offers that letter at a fair price with good service?

You can see the standardized benefit chart on Medicare's official site at medicare.gov.

A quick tour of the letters

Without steering you toward any one option, here's roughly how the letters break down:

• Plans A and B cover the basics, including Part A coinsurance and hospital costs.
• Plans G and N are among the most comprehensive still open to new enrollees. Plan G covers nearly everything except the Part B deductible.
• Plans K and L have lower premiums but ask you to share more of the cost up to a yearly out-of-pocket limit.
• Plan M splits the Part A deductible.
• Plans C and F (for those eligible before 2020) cover the Part B deductible, which newer plans can't.

The right letter depends on how often you use care, your budget for premiums, and how much financial predictability you want.

The Minot picture

Minot is in Ward County, where residents choose Medicare coverage under the same federal rules as the rest of North Dakota. Medigap plans in North Dakota are regulated by the state's insurance department, and companies must offer the standardized letter plans described above.

One important note for North Dakota residents: unlike some states, North Dakota generally doesn't require insurers to offer Medigap to people under 65 on Medicare due to disability, though some carriers do voluntarily. If that's your situation, it's worth calling to confirm.

Timing matters — a lot

The best time to buy Medigap is during your Medigap Open Enrollment Period: the six months that start the month you're 65 and enrolled in Part B. During that window, insurers can't turn you down or charge you more because of health conditions.

Outside that window, in most cases, insurers can use medical underwriting — meaning they can ask health questions and decline coverage or raise the price. That's why so many Medicare counselors urge people not to miss that first six-month window.

Medigap enrollment is separate from the fall Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7), which is for Part D and Medicare Advantage.

How Medigap fits with Part D in 2026

If you choose Medigap, you'll likely want a stand-alone Part D drug plan too. A few 2026 program facts worth knowing:

• Part D now has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $615.
• The old "donut hole" is gone — Part D now has three simpler phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments.
• Higher-income enrollees (above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026) pay an IRMAA surcharge on Part B and Part D.