Medicare Supplement

Shopping for Medigap in Cleveland? Here's how Ohio's plan letters actually line up

If you live in Cleveland and you're pairing Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy, the first thing to know is that the letters on the shelf are the same across most of the country. Ohio uses the federal standardized plan letters, and Cleveland is in Cuyahoga County, where those same letters are what any licensed Medigap insurer can sell you. The choice you're making isn't really "which insurer has a better Plan G" — it's which lettered plan fits your health, budget and comfort with paperwork, and then which insurer prices it in a way that works for you over time.

What Medigap is (and what it isn't)

Medigap is private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copays and, depending on the letter, the Part A hospital deductible. It only works with Original Medicare. If you're on a Medicare Advantage plan, you can't use a Medigap policy at the same time.

Medigap also doesn't include prescription drug coverage. To get drug coverage, you add a stand-alone Part D plan. That means most Cleveland residents on Original Medicare are really juggling three things: Part A, Part B and a Medigap policy on one side, and a Part D drug plan on the other.

The plan letters you can buy in Ohio

Ohio follows the federal standardized letters. If you're newly eligible for Medicare today, your choices are:

• Plans A, B, D, G, G-HD, K, L, M and N

Plans C and F still exist, but only for people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. That's a federal rule, not an Ohio quirk. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize their Medigap plans differently — Ohio does not.

Here's the important part: every insurer selling "Plan G" in Ohio is selling the same Plan G benefits. The federal government sets what each letter covers. What differs between insurers is price, customer service, how they raise rates over time, and any extra perks they choose to bundle in.

How Medigap and Part D fit together

Because Medigap doesn't cover prescriptions, you'll want to look at a Part D plan separately during your enrollment window. A few 2026 figures worth keeping in mind as you shop drug coverage:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615.
• The old coverage gap (the "donut hole") is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly installments if that helps your budget.
• IRMAA surcharges (extra premiums for higher earners) start above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

If you keep Original Medicare + Medigap + Part D, those three pieces work together but are billed and managed separately.

Ohio rules that shape your choice

Federal law gives you a six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that starts the first month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During that window, insurers must sell you any Medigap plan they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health. Outside that window, in most cases insurers in Ohio can use medical underwriting — meaning they can look at your health history and either charge more or decline you.

There are also federal guaranteed-issue rights in specific situations, like if your Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area or you move out of its service area. Some states add extra protections on top of that (for example, "birthday rules" that let you switch plans each year without underwriting). Whether any state-specific right applies to you in Ohio is a question for the Ohio Department of Insurance or OSHIIP, the state's SHIP program.

Another thing to ask about before you sign: how the insurer prices the plan. Medigap policies in Ohio can be priced in different ways (community-rated, issue-age-rated or attained-age-rated), and that affects how your premium changes as you get older. The table below lists every plan letter available, but pricing method is a question to put directly to the insurer or your SHIP counselor.

How to find insurers and prices in Cleveland

There is no single official list of Medigap insurers we can publish here, but there are three reliable ways to see what's actually sold in your ZIP code:

1. Medicare.gov Medigap policy search — enter your ZIP code to see every insurer licensed to sell each letter in your area, with sample premiums. 2. Ohio Department of Insurance Medigap rate guide — a state-published comparison of rates by company and plan letter. 3. OSHIIP (Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program) — free, unbiased counseling by phone or in person. They don't sell anything.

Compare at least a few insurers for the same letter. Because the benefits are identical by law, price and long-term rate history are usually the deciding factors.