Medicare Supplement

Who can still buy Plan C or F in Norfolk, Virginia?

NORFOLK, Va. — If you carry a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy in Norfolk, or you're thinking about buying one, a handful of things quietly reset each year. The plan letters you can buy depend on when you first became eligible for Medicare. The Part B deductible — the number Plans G and N are built around — is reset by the federal government. And every insurer selling Medigap in Virginia files its rates with the state, which is where any premium changes for 2027 will show up first.

Medicare SupplementNorfolk, VA

Here is what to watch as the new plan year approaches, and how to check the pieces that apply to you.

Which plan letters you can buy in 2027

Medigap policies are standardized by letter, which means a Plan G sold by one company covers the same Medicare-approved services as a Plan G sold by another. What differs is the premium and the company behind it.

For people newly eligible for Medicare today, the available letters in Virginia are A, B, D, G, G-HD (high-deductible G), K, L, M, and N. Plans C and F are closed to anyone who became eligible on or after January 1, 2020, because federal law no longer lets new Medigap plans cover the Part B deductible. If you were eligible before that date, you can still buy or keep C or F — a rule that carries into 2027 unchanged.

Norfolk is in the independent city of Norfolk, and Medigap availability is set at the state level in Virginia, so the same plan letters offered statewide are offered here.

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

Plans G and N both leave the Part B deductible for you to pay before the plan starts filling in coinsurance. Medicare sets that deductible amount each year and resets it every January 1. The 2027 figure will be announced by CMS ahead of the new plan year on medicare.gov.

Two practical points for Norfolk enrollees:

• Your deductible starts over on January 1, so an outpatient visit in early January may cost more out of pocket than the same visit in December.
• If you're comparing Plan G to Plan N, remember Plan N also has office-visit and emergency-room copays and does not cover Part B excess charges, while Plan G does. The deductible reset applies to both.

Rate-adjustment season: how to check what's changing

Insurers don't change Medigap premiums whenever they want. In Virginia, they file rate changes with the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance. That's the paper trail — if your premium goes up in 2027, the filing behind it is a public record.

A few things to know:

• Medigap is priced by the insurer, not by Medicare. Two companies selling the identical Plan G can charge very different amounts.
• Rating method matters. Some carriers use community rating, others use issue-age or attained-age rating, which affects how your premium moves as you get older.
• You can pull current premiums for your ZIP code using the Medigap policy finder at medicare.gov, and Virginia's Bureau of Insurance publishes consumer rate guides.

If you get a renewal notice with a new premium, that's the moment to compare — not the moment to panic.

Insurers entering or leaving Virginia

The list of companies selling Medigap in Virginia shifts from year to year as carriers file to enter the market or discontinue plans. The table below lists every insurer currently offering Medigap in Virginia and the plan letters each one sells — from AARP – UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company through WoodmenLife.

Two things worth remembering:

• If a carrier stops selling new Medigap policies in Virginia, that generally doesn't cancel existing policies; check your policy documents and call the insurer.
• Switching Medigap plans outside of your initial six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period usually means going through medical underwriting, and the insurer can decline you or charge more based on your health. Virginia does not have a broad guaranteed-issue right to switch letters at will, so this is a decision to make carefully.

Where Medigap fits with the rest of Medicare in 2027

Medigap only works alongside Original Medicare (Parts A and B). It does not pay for prescriptions — that's Part D, which has its own separate changes for 2026 and beyond, including the $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs, the $615 maximum Part D deductible, and the optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan that spreads drug costs across the year. IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D premiums begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

The Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) and the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31) apply to Advantage and Part D — not Medigap. You can apply for a Medigap policy at any time of year, but outside your one-time six-month Medigap Open Enrollment window, approval isn't guaranteed.