Medicare Supplement

Same Plan G, different price: how Medigap works in Texas

If you live in McKinney and are sorting through Medicare Supplement (Medigap) options, the good news is that the choices are simpler than they look. Every Medigap policy sold in Texas is a federally standardized plan, labeled with a letter. A Plan G is a Plan G no matter which company sells it — the benefits are the same by law. What can differ is the price and the company behind it.

Medicare SupplementMcKinney, TX

McKinney is in Collin County, but Medigap availability is set at the state level, not the county level. That means a McKinney resident can shop from the same list of Texas-approved insurers as someone in Plano, Frisco or anywhere else in the state.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medigap is private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind, such as coinsurance and hospital deductibles. It does not replace Medicare; it sits on top of it.

A few things Medigap does not do:

• It does not cover prescription drugs. For that, most people add a stand-alone Part D plan.
• It does not work with a Medicare Advantage plan. You choose one path or the other.
• It does not typically cover dental, vision, hearing aids or long-term care.

The plan letters available in Texas

Texas follows the federal Medigap standardization, so the plan letters mean the same thing here as in almost every other state (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin standardize differently).

If you are newly eligible for Medicare today, these are the letters you can buy in Texas: A, B, D, G, G-HD, K, L, M and N. Plans C and F remain available only to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.

Each letter is a fixed package of benefits. For example, every Plan G sold in Texas covers the same things — the only differences among Plan G policies are the company selling it, the price and customer service. The same is true for Plan N, Plan K and every other letter.

The "HD" versions (Plan G-HD, and the older Plan F-HD) are high-deductible versions of those plans. You pay a yearly deductible before the Medigap benefits kick in.

How Medigap pairs with Original Medicare and Part D

Here is the typical setup for a McKinney resident who chooses the Medigap route:

1. Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pays first for hospital and medical services. 2. A Medigap policy picks up some or all of the coinsurance, copays and deductibles Medicare leaves you, depending on the letter you chose. 3. A stand-alone Part D plan covers your prescription drugs.

For 2026, Part D has a maximum deductible of $615 and a new $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs. The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025, replaced with a simpler three-phase structure. If drug costs bunch up early in the year, Medicare also offers the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread covered drug costs across monthly payments.

Higher-income enrollees may owe IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D; for 2026, those begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer.

The rules that shape your choice in Texas

Two federal rules matter most when you shop:

• Medigap Open Enrollment Period. This is a one-time, six-month window that starts the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During this window, insurers must sell you any Medigap plan they offer at their best available rate class, regardless of health history. Outside this window, in most cases, insurers in Texas can use medical underwriting.
• Guaranteed issue rights. In certain situations — for example, if a Medicare Advantage plan leaves your area or you move out of its service area — federal law gives you a limited right to buy specific Medigap plans without underwriting.

Texas may offer additional consumer protections beyond the federal minimums. For anything specific to your situation — including questions about switching later, or rights beyond the federal ones — check with the Texas Department of Insurance or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which offers free one-on-one counseling.

How to compare policies without getting lost

Because the benefits inside a given letter are fixed by law, comparison shopping comes down to a few practical questions:

• Which letter matches how you use care (more predictable costs vs. lower premium with some cost-sharing)?
• Which companies sell that letter in Texas?
• How does each company set and adjust its rates over time?
• Are you inside your Medigap Open Enrollment window, or will underwriting apply?

The table below lists every insurer approved to sell Medigap in Texas and the plan letters each one offers. You'll see familiar names — for example, AARP - UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, Humana (Emphesys Insurance Company), Mutual of Omaha (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company), State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Texas Farm Bureau Health Plans and USAA Life Insurance Company — alongside smaller carriers. Not every company sells every letter. A few, such as Philadelphia American Life Insurance Company, offer letters (like Plan M) that fewer carriers write.

We can't tell you which insurer or letter is "best" — that depends on your health, budget and preferences. For personalized help, Medicare.gov's Medigap policy finder and a local SHIP counselor are good starting points.