Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Radford: how the same Plan G works at every insurer

RADFORD, Va. — If you have ever tried to shop for a Medicare Supplement policy, you have probably run into a wall of letters: Plan A, Plan B, Plan G, Plan N, and a handful of others. It looks confusing, but there is a hidden order to it. Every one of those letter plans is standardized by the federal government, which means a Plan G sold by one company covers the exact same medical costs as a Plan G sold by another.

Medicare SupplementRadford, VA

That standardization matters more than most Radford shoppers realize, because it changes what you should actually be comparing.

What Medigap actually does

Medigap, also called Medicare Supplement Insurance, is a private policy that helps pay the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) leaves behind. Think coinsurance, copayments and, depending on the letter, the Part A hospital deductible.

It is not a replacement for Medicare. You keep Original Medicare as your primary coverage, and the Medigap policy fills in specific gaps after Medicare pays its share. Medigap does not include prescription drug coverage, so most people who choose Medigap also enroll in a stand-alone Part D plan.

One important rule: you cannot use a Medigap policy alongside a Medicare Advantage plan. Medigap is designed to work with Original Medicare only.

Why the letters exist

Before the 1990s, Medicare Supplement policies were a mess. Different companies sold different benefits under similar-sounding names, and comparing them was nearly impossible. Congress stepped in and required insurers to sell only standardized plans, each identified by a letter.

Today, in most states including Virginia, insurers can offer Plans A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N. (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin follow their own standardized systems.) A high-deductible version of Plan G is also available.

Because the benefits inside each letter are set by federal rules, a Plan G from one carrier covers the same Medicare-approved costs as a Plan G from any other carrier. What can differ between companies is price, customer service, and how they handle rate increases over time — not the medical benefits themselves.

What changed with Plan C and Plan F

If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, you cannot buy Plan C or Plan F. Both plans covered the Part B deductible, and a federal law closed that door for newly eligible enrollees.

People who were already eligible for Medicare before that date can still keep or, in some cases, buy those plans. This is why you may hear neighbors talk about Plan F while a younger retiree is told to look at Plan G instead. Plan G covers nearly the same things as Plan F, minus the Part B deductible.

Comparing letters, not commercials

Because the benefits inside each letter are identical across companies, the real comparison for a Radford shopper comes down to three questions:

• Which letter fits how you use health care and how much predictability you want in your monthly budget?
• What does each insurer charge for that letter, and how have their rates changed in past years?
• How does the insurer handle billing, claims and customer service?

Radford is in Radford City, and Medigap availability is regulated at the state level in Virginia, so the list of insurers licensed to sell these plans is broader than what you might see for Medicare Advantage. The Virginia State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance keeps a current list of approved carriers.

When you can enroll without medical questions

The friendliest time to buy a Medigap policy is your Medigap Open Enrollment Period — a one-time, six-month window that starts the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B. During that window, insurers must sell you any Medigap policy they offer at their best available rate, regardless of your health history.

Outside that window, insurers in Virginia can generally use medical underwriting, which means they can ask health questions and may charge more or decline coverage. There are some limited "guaranteed issue" situations — for example, if certain other coverage ends — but the six-month window is the simplest path.