Medicare Supplement

Turning 65 in Amarillo? How your Medigap window works

Medigap — also called Medicare Supplement Insurance — is a private policy that helps pay some of what Original Medicare leaves behind, like coinsurance and hospital copays. It rides alongside Part A and Part B. It does not replace them, and it does not work with a Medicare Advantage plan.

Medicare SupplementAmarillo, TX

What Medigap is, in plain terms

The federal government standardizes Medigap by letter. That means a Plan G from one company covers the same core benefits as a Plan G from any other company. Texas follows the federal standardization (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin do it differently). What changes between companies is the monthly premium, the customer service and how they handle rate increases over time.

The plan letters you can buy in Texas today

If you're becoming eligible for Medicare now, these are the standardized letters available in Texas:

• Plan A — the basic set of benefits every Medigap plan must include.
• Plan B — Plan A benefits plus the Part A deductible.
• Plan D — broader coverage, but without the Part B deductible.
• Plan G — one of the most comprehensive letters still open to new enrollees.
• Plan G-HD — a high-deductible version of Plan G with a lower premium and a yearly deductible you pay first.
• Plans K and L — cost-sharing plans with out-of-pocket limits.
• Plan M — splits the Part A deductible with you.
• Plan N — covers most gaps but leaves some office-visit and ER copays.

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; otherwise, they're off the menu.

How Medigap pairs with Original Medicare and Part D

Here's the usual setup for someone in Amarillo who chooses this route:

1. Part A and Part B (Original Medicare) do the heavy lifting — hospital and medical coverage. 2. A Medigap plan fills in coinsurance, copays and some deductibles based on the letter you pick. 3. A stand-alone Part D plan covers prescription drugs, because Medigap does not.

For 2026, Part D has a $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap, a maximum deductible of $615, and the old "donut hole" is gone — replaced by three simpler phases. You can also opt into the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan to spread drug costs across the year in level monthly payments. Higher-income enrollees (above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026) pay an IRMAA surcharge on Parts B and D.

The rules that shape your choice in Texas

Two federal rules matter most:

• Your Medigap open enrollment period starts the month you turn 65 and are enrolled in Part B, and it lasts six months. During this window, insurers in Texas must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health history.
• Guaranteed issue rights apply in certain other situations — for example, if a plan you were on ends coverage in your area, or you lose employer coverage.

Outside those windows, Texas allows medical underwriting for most Medigap applications, which means an insurer can consider your health when deciding whether to sell you a policy and at what price. Texas does not have a "birthday rule" like California or Oregon. For the exact rules that apply to your situation, the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas SHIP (called HICAP here) can walk you through it for free.

Who sells Medigap in Amarillo

Amarillo is in Potter and Randall counties, and the insurers licensed to sell Medigap in Texas serve the whole state — so your choice of carriers here is the same as anywhere else in Texas. The table below lists every insurer along with the plan letters each one offers. You'll see familiar names such as AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, Humana (Emphesys Insurance Company), Mutual of Omaha (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company) and USAA Life Insurance Company, along with regional carriers like Texas Farm Bureau Health Plans.

Not every insurer offers every letter. If you've decided you want a Plan N, for example, you'd compare only the companies that sell Plan N. If you want a high-deductible Plan G, your list is shorter.

How to shop without getting overwhelmed

A simple order that tends to work:

1. Pick the letter first. Decide how much cost-sharing you're comfortable with and whether you want a high-deductible option. 2. Then compare prices for that same letter across carriers. Because the benefits are identical, this is a true apples-to-apples comparison. 3. Ask how each insurer sets premiums. Some use age at issue, others use attained age or community rating — and that affects how your premium may change as you get older. 4. Add a Part D plan separately. Use the Plan Finder at medicare.gov to compare drug plans based on the specific medications you take.