Medicare Supplement

Shopping Medigap in Virginia Beach: how to line up the same plan letter across insurers

If you live in Virginia Beach and you are shopping for a Medicare Supplement policy — also called Medigap — the trickiest part is not picking a plan letter. It is figuring out how different insurers price the very same letter, and how to line them up side by side. Two companies can sell an identical Plan G, but arrive at very different premiums using very different rules.

Here is a plain-English guide to how that works in Virginia, and how to find every insurer that sells Medigap in your ZIP code.

The same letter is the same coverage — everywhere

Medigap plans are standardized by federal law. That means a Plan G sold by Insurer A covers exactly the same gaps in Original Medicare as a Plan G sold by Insurer B. Same for Plans A, B, D, G, High-Deductible G, K, L, M and N — the letters available to people newly eligible for Medicare today. (Plans C and F are only available if you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020.)

So when you compare insurers, you are not comparing benefits. You are comparing price, how that price will change over time, discounts, customer service and the company's rate history.

Virginia Beach is in Virginia Beach city

Medigap availability in Virginia is regulated at the state level, and Virginia Beach sits inside the independent city of Virginia Beach. Any Medigap insurer licensed to sell in Virginia can offer policies to residents there. The full list of carriers changes over time, so instead of naming any single insurer, this article points you to the sources that keep the list current.

The three pricing methods — and why they matter

This is the single most important thing to ask any Medigap insurer:

Attained-age rating. The premium is based on your current age and goes up as you get older. It often looks lowest at age 65 and rises steadily over time.

Issue-age rating. The premium is based on your age when you first bought the policy. It does not rise just because you had a birthday, though it can still rise for inflation or other reasons.

Community rating (also called "no-age-rated"). Everyone in the same area pays the same premium regardless of age.

Two Plan G policies might look similar today but drift far apart by age 80, depending on which method the insurer uses. Always ask.

Rate history, household discounts and underwriting

Beyond the pricing method, three more questions separate insurers that sell the same plan letter:

Rate history. Ask how often the insurer has raised rates in Virginia over the past five to ten years, and by how much. The Virginia Bureau of Insurance publishes rate filings you can review.

Household or spousal discounts. Some insurers reduce the premium — often around 5% to 12% — when two people in the same household have a policy with them, or in some cases just when another adult lives with you. The rules differ by company.

Medical underwriting. During your Medigap Open Enrollment (the six months starting the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B), insurers must sell you any policy they offer without asking about your health. Outside that window, and outside a few guaranteed-issue situations, insurers in Virginia can use medical underwriting — meaning they can ask health questions and decline coverage or charge more. If you are thinking of switching insurers later, this matters a lot.

How to find every insurer selling Medigap in Virginia Beach

There is no single "official list" you can print — but three tools together will get you a complete picture:

1. Medicare.gov Medigap policy search. Enter your Virginia Beach ZIP code at medicare.gov and choose "Find a Medigap policy." It will list every insurer offering each plan letter in your area, with the range of premiums they have filed. 2. Virginia Bureau of Insurance Medigap rate guide. The state publishes a rate comparison guide that shows premiums by insurer, age and plan letter. Search "Virginia Bureau of Insurance Medicare Supplement" to find the current edition. 3. Virginia Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program (VICAP). This is Virginia's SHIP — free, unbiased counseling from trained volunteers. They can walk you through the same-letter comparison without trying to sell you anything.

The table below lists every plan letter available to new enrollees; use it as your checklist when you call insurers or brokers.