Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Irving: the plan letters Texas lets you buy and how to choose

If you live in Irving and are looking at Medicare Supplement Insurance — better known as Medigap — the good news is that the policies sold here are standardized. That means a Plan G from one company covers the same federal benefits as a Plan G from another. What changes is the insurer, the price and how that price is set over time.

Irving is in Dallas County, and Texans shopping today can choose from most of the federally standardized plan letters. Below is a plain-English guide to which letters are available, how Medigap fits with Original Medicare and Part D, and the Texas-specific rules that shape your decision.

Which plan letters you can buy in Texas

If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, you can buy Plans A, B, D, G, high-deductible G, K, L, M and N. If you were eligible before that date, you can also still buy Plans C and F, which cover the Part B deductible. Federal law closed C and F to newly eligible people, but people already enrolled can keep them.

Each letter is a fixed benefit package set by the federal government. Plan G, for example, covers the same things whether you buy it from a national insurer or a smaller regional carrier. The table below lists every insurer selling Medigap in Texas and the letters each one offers.

How Medigap pairs with Original Medicare and Part D

Medigap only works with Original Medicare, not with Medicare Advantage. You keep your red-white-and-blue Medicare card, use any provider in the country that accepts Medicare, and your Medigap policy picks up some of the costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copayments and, depending on the letter, the Part A deductible.

Medigap does not include prescription drug coverage. If you want help paying for medications, you enroll in a stand-alone Part D plan alongside your Medigap policy. For 2026, Part D has an annual out-of-pocket cap of $2,100 and a maximum deductible of $615. The old coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025, so Part D now has three phases instead of four. If your drug costs are uneven month to month, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread them across the calendar year.

Higher-income enrollees may pay an IRMAA surcharge on Part B and Part D. For 2026, IRMAA begins above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

The Texas rules that shape your choice

The single most important rule to know is the federal Medigap Open Enrollment Period. It is a one-time, six-month window that begins the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During that window, any insurer selling Medigap in Texas must sell you any plan they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health.

Outside that window, Texas allows medical underwriting for most applicants. That means an insurer can look at your health history and decide whether to offer you a policy and at what price. There are limited federal guaranteed-issue rights — for example, if you lose other coverage involuntarily — but Texas does not have a "birthday rule" or annual open enrollment for Medigap the way a few other states do.

If you already have a Medigap policy and want to switch, you can apply at any time, but expect underwriting unless you have a guaranteed-issue right.

What actually differs between insurers

Since the benefits inside a letter are fixed, insurers compete on three things you can compare:

• Pricing method. Texas insurers may use community-rated, issue-age-rated or attained-age-rated pricing. Community-rated means everyone with that policy pays the same regardless of age. Issue-age is based on the age you bought in. Attained-age rises as you get older. Over time, these can behave very differently, so ask which method a policy uses.
• Rate history and household discounts. Ask how often the insurer has raised rates in Texas and whether any household or spousal discounts apply.
• Service and extras. Some insurers add non-insurance perks like gym memberships or 24-hour nurse lines. These are not part of the federal benefits and can change.

We are not allowed to say which letter or which insurer is best — that depends on your health, budget and how you use care. But the table below shows every carrier and the letters each sells, so you can start narrowing down.

How to decide, step by step

1. Confirm you want Original Medicare plus Medigap (rather than Medicare Advantage). Medigap requires you to stay in Original Medicare. 2. Pick the letter that fits your budget and how much cost-sharing you are comfortable with. Plans G, high-deductible G and N are the most commonly sold letters for newly eligible enrollees. 3. Once you have chosen a letter, get quotes from several insurers offering it in Texas. Same letter = same federal benefits. 4. Ask about the pricing method and rate-increase history. 5. Enroll in a stand-alone Part D plan for prescriptions. 6. If you need help sorting it out, call your Texas SHIP (the state's free Medicare counseling program) before you sign.

Remember the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) applies to Medicare Advantage and Part D — not Medigap. Medigap has its own timing rules.