Medicare Supplement

Before you renew Medigap in McKinney, check these 4 shifts

McKINNEY, Texas — If you have a Medigap policy in Collin County, or you're thinking about getting one, a handful of things move every year on the calendar. The plan letters you're allowed to buy don't change often, but the Part B deductible that Plans G and N are built around resets each January, and Texas insurers file new rates with the state on their own schedules. Here's a plain-English look at what's shifting for 2027 and how to check the numbers that apply to you.

What "changes" actually mean for Medigap

Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government, so a Plan G sold by one insurer covers the same core benefits as a Plan G sold by another. What can change from year to year is:

• Which plan letters you're eligible to buy, based on when you first became eligible for Medicare.
• The Part B deductible amount, which Plans G and N leave you to pay before coverage kicks in.
• Your premium, which each insurer files separately with the Texas Department of Insurance.
• Which insurers are actively marketing Medigap in Texas.

None of these move on the same date, which is why "Medigap changes" is really four calendars stacked on top of each other.

Plan-letter eligibility: who can buy what

If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, you cannot buy Plans C or F. That rule has been in place for several years and continues into 2027. The plan letters open to newly eligible people today are A, B, D, G, G-HD, K, L, M and N.

If you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, you can still buy or keep Plans C and F if an insurer sells them. A few Texas carriers listed in the table below — including AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, Mutual of Omaha (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company) and United American Insurance Company — still offer those legacy letters alongside the newer lineup.

Plan G (and its high-deductible version, G-HD) and Plan N are the letters most often sold to people new to Medicare. You'll see them across nearly every insurer in the Texas roster.

The Part B deductible reset — why it matters for Plans G and N

Plan G covers almost everything Original Medicare doesn't, except the Part B deductible. Plan N works similarly, with some office-visit and emergency-room copays layered in. Because both plans leave that deductible to you, the amount resets every January when Medicare updates it for the new year.

CMS sets the Part B deductible for each calendar year and announces it in the fall. When 2027's figure is published on medicare.gov, that will be what you pay out of pocket before Plan G or Plan N benefits begin for Part B services. The plan letter and its standardized benefits don't change — only the dollar amount tied to that deductible line.

If you have Plan G-HD, you're responsible for a separate, higher deductible set by Medicare before the plan pays. That figure also resets each year.

Rate-adjustment season in Texas

Medigap premiums are not set by Medicare. Each insurer files its rates with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), and filings can happen at different points in the year. Two people on the exact same Plan G, from two different carriers, can pay very different premiums — and each carrier can adjust its rates on its own timeline.

To check what your insurer has filed:

• Visit the Texas Department of Insurance website (tdi.texas.gov) and look for Medicare supplement rate information.
• Use the Medigap policy search on medicare.gov to see which carriers offer which letters in your ZIP code.
• Call your insurer directly and ask for your renewal rate in writing.
• Call your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for free, one-on-one help comparing.

Texas is not a "birthday rule" or "anniversary rule" state, so switching Medigap plans after your initial enrollment window generally means answering medical-underwriting questions. That's an important thing to know before you shop on price alone.

Insurers active in Texas for 2027

The full Texas roster is in the table below. As of the most recent Medicare.gov Medigap policy search, insurers offering Medigap in Texas include (alphabetically): AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company, AFLAC, American Benefit Life Insurance Company, Atlantic Capital Life Assurance Company, Bankers Life (Underwritten by Washington National Insurance Company), BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, GPM Health and Life Insurance Company, Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, HealthSpring Insurance Company, Humana (Emphesys Insurance Company), Insurance Company of North America, LifeShield National Insurance Company, Lumos Insurance, Medico Life and Health Insurance Company, Mutual of Omaha (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company), Nassau Life Insurance Company, New Era Life Insurance Company, Old Surety Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia American Life Insurance Company, Physicians Select Insurance Company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Texas Farm Bureau Health Plans, United American Insurance Company, USAA Life Insurance Company, Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation, Woodmen Of The World Life Insurance Society and WoodmenLife.

McKinney is in Collin County, and the carriers licensed to sell in Texas can generally offer to residents anywhere in the state, though each one sets its own footprint. The table shows which plan letters each insurer currently offers.

How this fits with the rest of Medicare in 2026 and 2027

A quick reminder on the pieces that sit next to Medigap:

• Part D has a $2,100 out-of-pocket cap for 2026, with a maximum deductible of $615.
• The old "donut hole" is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly amounts.
• IRMAA surcharges start above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.
• The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 – December 7. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31.

Medigap has its own enrollment rules, separate from those windows. Your best protection from underwriting is your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which begins when you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.