Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Fort Worth: how the standardized letter plans work under Texas rules

FORT WORTH, Texas — If you have Original Medicare and you live in Fort Worth, a Medicare Supplement policy — often called Medigap — is the piece that helps pay the out-of-pocket share Medicare leaves behind. The part that trips people up is that these policies come as letters, not brand names. And the letters mean the same thing no matter which company sells them.

Medicare SupplementFort Worth, TX

Here is a plain-English guide to how those letter plans work in Tarrant County, how they sit alongside Part D drug coverage, and where to look for Texas-specific rules before you sign anything.

What "standardized" actually means

The federal government sets the benefits inside each Medigap letter. That means Plan G is Plan G — the coinsurance, hospital days and Part B excess charges it covers are the same from company to company. What can differ is the monthly premium, how the company raises rates over time, and customer service.

Three states (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin) run their own standardization system. Texas uses the federal letters, so Fort Worth shoppers see the same menu as most of the country.

The letters you can buy in Texas today

If you are newly eligible for Medicare, the plans available to you are A, B, D, G, G-HD, K, L, M and N. The "HD" in Plan G-HD stands for high-deductible — you pay more up front in exchange for a lower premium.

Plans C and F still exist, but only for people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. If that is you, you can keep a Plan C or F you already own, or buy one if a company still offers it. Everyone else has to choose from the current list.

Each letter covers a different mix of the gaps in Original Medicare — things like the Part A hospital coinsurance, the Part B coinsurance, blood, hospice cost-sharing, and skilled nursing facility coinsurance. Plans K and L cover a percentage of some costs rather than the full amount, and they include an annual out-of-pocket limit.

How Medigap pairs with Part D

Medigap does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want help paying for medications, you sign up for a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan alongside your Medigap policy.

Two 2026 Part D figures worth writing down:

• The out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs is $2,100.
• The maximum deductible a Part D plan can charge is $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated in 2025, so drug coverage now moves through three phases instead of four.

If your prescription bills come in big lumps early in the year, ask about the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. It is an optional program that spreads what you owe across the calendar year in monthly installments — it does not lower the total, it just smooths it.

The Texas rules that shape your choice

Federal law gives you one very strong window: a six-month Medigap open enrollment period that starts the month your Part B begins, at age 65 or older. During that window, insurers in Texas cannot turn you down or charge more because of your health. After that window closes, medical underwriting usually applies unless you have a guaranteed-issue right.

A few things to ask about before you buy in Fort Worth:

• How the premium is priced. Texas insurers can use different pricing methods (issue-age, attained-age or community-rated), and that affects how your premium changes as you get older.
• Household or other discounts. Some carriers offer them; the Texas Department of Insurance publishes a Medigap rate guide that lets you compare.
• Switching rights. Outside of your initial window or a guaranteed-issue situation, moving from one Medigap plan to another in Texas usually means answering health questions. Confirm any state-specific rights with the Texas Department of Insurance or your SHIP counselor before you cancel a policy.

We are not naming insurers here because a full carrier list for Texas is not part of our data. The best way to see who sells which letter plan in your ZIP code is the Medigap policy search on Medicare.gov.

How to shop without getting overwhelmed

A workable order of operations:

1. Decide which letter fits how you use care. If you want the fewest surprise bills, people often look at Plan G or Plan N; if you are comfortable with more cost-sharing in exchange for a lower premium, Plans K, L or G-HD exist for that reason. None of these is "best" — it depends on your budget and how often you see doctors. 2. Once you know the letter, compare prices from several companies for that same letter. Because benefits are identical, this is a fair apples-to-apples comparison. 3. Line up a Part D plan separately, using the Plan Finder at Medicare.gov with your actual medication list.