Medicare Supplement

Shopping Medigap in Cincinnati? Here's how Ohio's plan letters fit together

CINCINNATI — If you have Original Medicare and you're looking at a Medicare Supplement policy in the Queen City, the first thing to know is that you're not really shopping "plans" the way you would with Medicare Advantage. You're shopping standardized letters — the same A, B, D, G, K, L, M and N you'd see anywhere else in Ohio, sold by different insurers at different prices.

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That standardization is the whole point of Medigap. Once you know what each letter covers, the shopping question narrows down to price, the insurer's service, and how they raise rates over time.

What "standardized letters" actually means

Medigap plans sold in Ohio follow the federal standard. That means Plan G from one insurer covers the same gaps in Original Medicare as Plan G from another insurer. The benefit chart doesn't change from company to company. What changes is the premium, the insurer's customer service, and how they set future rate increases.

Three states — Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin — standardize their Medigap policies differently. Ohio is not one of them, so Cincinnati shoppers use the same letter system you see in most of the country.

Which letters you can buy in Cincinnati today

If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, these letters are available to you in Ohio:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan D
• Plan G
• Plan G high-deductible (Plan G-HD)
• Plan K
• Plan L
• Plan M
• Plan N

Plans C and F are only available to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If that's you, you can still buy them; if not, they aren't on the menu.

Each letter covers a different mix of Part A and Part B cost-sharing — things like the Part A hospital deductible, coinsurance days, and Part B coinsurance. The Medicare.gov Medigap policy search shows a side-by-side benefit grid, which is the cleanest way to compare what each letter picks up.

How Medigap works with Original Medicare and Part D

Medigap is designed to fill in what Original Medicare leaves you paying. You keep Parts A and B as your main coverage. When a doctor or hospital bills Medicare, Medicare pays its share, then your Medigap policy pays the piece it covers based on your letter.

A few things Medigap does not do:

• It does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want drug coverage, you enroll in a stand-alone Part D plan.
• It does not work with Medicare Advantage. Medigap is for people who stay on Original Medicare.
• It does not usually cover dental, vision or hearing.

On the Part D side, 2026 brings a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs and a maximum Part D deductible of $615. The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025, replaced by a three-phase design. If your drug bills are lumpy, you can also opt into the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads your share across the calendar year in monthly amounts.

The Ohio rules that shape your choice

Two rules matter most when you shop in Cincinnati:

Your one-time Medigap Open Enrollment Period. This is a six-month window that starts the month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During it, insurers in Ohio must sell you any Medigap policy they offer, at their best-health rate, without medical underwriting. Outside that window, in most cases insurers can ask health questions and decide whether to cover you.

Guaranteed issue rights. Federal law gives you a guaranteed right to buy certain Medigap policies in specific situations — for example, if a Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area or you move out of its service area. Ohio may layer additional rights on top of federal law, and those change from time to time. For anything beyond the federal baseline, check with the Ohio Department of Insurance or OSHIIP, the state's SHIP.

How pricing is set (and why two people pay different amounts)

Medigap insurers can use different methods to set premiums — commonly called community-rated, issue-age-rated, and attained-age-rated. Two people the same age, in the same Cincinnati ZIP code, buying the same letter, can pay different premiums at different insurers, and their rates can rise differently over time. That's why the Ohio Department of Insurance publishes a Medigap rate guide, and why running quotes on Medicare.gov by your ZIP is worth the ten minutes.

We don't name insurers here or quote prices, because rates change and what fits one household won't fit another. The table below (when insurer data is available) is the starting list; the rate guide and Medicare.gov quote tool are how you narrow it down.

Where to get help in Cincinnati

• Medicare.gov Medigap policy search — enter your ZIP to see which insurers sell which letters in Hamilton County.
• Ohio Department of Insurance — publishes a Medigap shopper's guide with rate information.
• OSHIIP (Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program) — the state SHIP, free one-on-one counseling.
• 1-800-MEDICARE — 24/7 help from Medicare directly.