Medicare Supplement

Pasadena Medicare Supplement Plans and the Letter System

PASADENA, Texas — If you're turning 65 in Pasadena, or helping a parent sort through Medicare mail, you've probably run into a wall of letters: Plan A, Plan G, Plan N, Plan K. That's Medigap — short for Medicare Supplement insurance — and the letters aren't random. They're a standardized system designed to make comparing plans easier, once you know how to read them.

Here's a plain-English guide to what Medigap does, what it doesn't, and how those letter plans fit into the bigger Medicare picture.

What Medigap actually is

Medigap is private insurance that works alongside Original Medicare (Part A hospital coverage and Part B doctor coverage). It's built to help pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copayments, and in some cases the Part A hospital deductible.

A few basics worth knowing up front:

• Medigap only works with Original Medicare. It does not pair with a Medicare Advantage plan.
• You pay a monthly premium to the Medigap insurer, on top of your Part B premium.
• Medigap generally does not include prescription drug coverage. For that, you'd typically add a stand-alone Part D plan.
• Medigap doesn't cover long-term care, most dental, vision, hearing aids, or care outside the U.S. in most cases.

Why the plans are labeled with letters

This is where a lot of people get tripped up. Medigap plans are standardized by the federal government. That means Plan G sold by one insurance company covers the same core benefits as Plan G sold by another. The letter tells you what's covered.

What can differ between companies selling the same letter plan:

• The monthly premium
• Customer service and billing
• Optional extras a few carriers bundle in

The current lineup of standardized plans includes A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. (Plans C and F are only available to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.) Newer enrollees most often look at Plan G and Plan N, which tend to be the most widely sold today.

What the letters generally cover

Every Medigap plan pays the Part A hospital coinsurance and gives you an extra 365 days of hospital coverage after Medicare benefits are used up. From there, the letters step up or down in what else they help with — like the Part B coinsurance, the first three pints of blood, hospice coinsurance, skilled nursing facility coinsurance, and the Part A deductible.

Plans K and L are cost-sharing plans, meaning they cover a percentage (50% or 75%) of certain costs until you hit a yearly out-of-pocket limit, then pay 100% after that. Plan N has small copays for some office and emergency room visits.

For the official side-by-side chart, Medicare.gov's Medigap comparison tool is the most reliable source.

How Medigap fits with the rest of Medicare in Harris County

Pasadena is in Harris County, where beneficiaries generally have two broad paths:

1. Original Medicare + (optionally) Medigap + (optionally) a Part D drug plan. 2. A Medicare Advantage plan, which bundles Parts A and B, usually includes drug coverage, and often includes extras — but does not work with Medigap.

Medigap availability and pricing are regulated at the state level in Texas, so the letter plans you'll see in Pasadena are the same ones offered across Harris County and the rest of the state. What varies is which carriers sell which letters, and at what premium.

The best time to buy — and why timing matters

The single most important date for Medigap shoppers is the start of your Medigap Open Enrollment Period: the six-month window that begins the month you're 65 and enrolled in Part B. During that window, you have a federal right to buy any Medigap plan sold in Texas, at the best available rate, without medical underwriting.

After that window closes, insurers in most states — Texas included — can ask health questions and can decline you or charge more based on your health. That's why people who might want Medigap are usually told: don't wait.

Note that Medigap has its own enrollment rules. It is not tied to Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) or the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31), which apply to Advantage and Part D plans.

A quick word on 2026 drug costs

Medigap doesn't cover prescriptions, but if you go the Original Medicare + Medigap route, you'll likely add a Part D plan. For 2026, a few program-wide numbers to keep on your radar:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615.
• The old coverage gap — the "donut hole" — was eliminated in 2025. Part D now runs in three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy.
• IRMAA surcharges (higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher incomes) start above $109,000 for single filers in 2026.