Medicare Supplement

Sorting Out Medigap Letters: A Lorain Medicare Primer

LORAIN, Ohio — If you're new to Medicare, or helping a parent sort through the mail piling up on the kitchen table, you've probably seen the words "Medicare Supplement" and "Medigap" used side by side. They mean the same thing. And once you understand what these plans do — and how the lettered options work — the whole system gets a lot less confusing.

Here's a plain-language guide for Lorain residents trying to decide whether a Medigap plan fits their situation.

What Medigap actually does

Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pays for a large share of your hospital and doctor bills, but not all of it. You're still responsible for deductibles, coinsurance, and copays — and there's no yearly cap on what you could owe out of pocket.

A Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy is private insurance you can buy to help pay some of those leftover costs. Think of it as a second layer that sits on top of Original Medicare. When Medicare pays its share of a covered service, your Medigap plan kicks in to pay some or all of what's left, depending on the letter you choose.

A few important 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. Medigap only pairs with Original Medicare.
• It doesn't usually cover dental, vision, hearing aids, or long-term care.

How the standardized letters work

Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. In most states, including Ohio, they're sold under letter names: 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.)

Here's the key point: every plan with the same letter covers the same basic benefits, no matter which insurance company sells it. A Plan G from one carrier covers the exact same gaps as a Plan G from another carrier. What can differ is the monthly premium, customer service, and extras a company might tack on.

The letters range from lighter coverage (like Plan A) to more comprehensive coverage (like Plan G). Plans K and L work a little differently — they have lower premiums but ask you to share a percentage of costs up to a yearly out-of-pocket limit.

You can compare the standardized benefit charts on Medicare.gov.

Why Lorain residents should pay attention to timing

Lorain is in Lorain County, where residents have access to Original Medicare plus a range of private Medigap and Part D options sold by insurers licensed in Ohio.

The single most important thing to know about Medigap is your Medigap Open Enrollment Period. This is a one-time, six-month window that starts the month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During this window, insurance companies can't turn you down or charge you more because of your health history.

Miss that window, and in Ohio, insurers can generally use medical underwriting — meaning they can look at your health and decide whether to sell you a policy and at what price. That's a costly mistake worth avoiding.

How to decide if Medigap is right for you

There's no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are the questions worth asking:

• Do you want to keep Original Medicare? Medigap only works with it. If you prefer a Medicare Advantage plan, Medigap isn't an option.
• Do you travel or split time out of state? Original Medicare plus Medigap is accepted by any provider nationwide that takes Medicare.
• How do you feel about predictable costs vs. lower premiums? More comprehensive letters cost more each month but leave less for you to pay when you use care.
• Do you need drug coverage? If yes, plan on adding a stand-alone Part D plan. For 2026, Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap and a maximum deductible of $615, per CMS.

A quick word on other 2026 rules

Even if you go the Medigap route, a few program-wide changes are worth knowing. The Part D coverage gap (the old "donut hole") is gone as of 2025 — drug coverage now has three phases. There's also the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your drug costs across the year in monthly payments instead of paying all at once at the pharmacy.

Higher earners should also know about IRMAA — the income-related surcharge that applies to Part B and Part D premiums for single filers with income above $109,000 in 2026.