Medicare Supplement

Medigap in Tacoma: which plan letters Washington shoppers can actually buy

If you live in Tacoma and have Original Medicare (Part A and Part B), a Medigap policy is private insurance that helps pay some of the out-of-pocket costs Original Medicare leaves behind — things like coinsurance, copayments and, for some letters, the Part A deductible.

What Medigap is — and what it isn't

Medigap does not replace Medicare. It sits alongside it. It also does not include prescription drug coverage, and it does not work with a Medicare Advantage plan. If you have Advantage, you cannot use a Medigap policy at the same time.

Tacoma is in Pierce County, and Medigap availability is set at the state level in Washington, not the county level. That means the plan letters and insurers available to a shopper in Tacoma are the same ones available across the state.

The plan letters you can buy in Washington

Medigap is federally standardized. Washington follows the federal letter system (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin do things differently). If you are newly eligible for Medicare today, you can shop these letters:

• Plans A, B, D, G, high-deductible G, K, L, M and N.

Plans C and F remain available only to people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. That's a federal rule, not a Washington rule.

Because the letters are standardized, a Plan G from one insurer covers the same Medicare-approved costs as a Plan G from another. The differences you'll notice are price, customer service, and how the company sets and changes rates over time.

Which insurers sell Medigap here

Several insurers sell Medigap policies in Washington. The full list — and which letters each one offers — appears in the table below. Names you'll see include AARP – UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, Bankers Life, Premera Blue Cross, Regence BlueShield, Mutual of Omaha (United World Life Insurance Company), Humana, State Farm and USAA Life Insurance Company, among others.

We don't rank them, and we don't quote prices — rates change, and the "right" pick depends on your health, budget and how you want to shop. The table shows who sells what; comparing quotes is a step you'll want to take with medicare.gov's plan finder or a SHIBA counselor.

How Medigap pairs with Original Medicare and Part D

Here's the typical Tacoma setup for someone who wants predictable costs:

• Original Medicare (Parts A and B) pays first.
• A Medigap policy fills in some of what's left, based on the letter you pick.
• A stand-alone Part D plan covers prescriptions.

Two 2026 Part D figures worth knowing: the out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs is $2,100, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615. The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases. If monthly drug bills get spiky, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread covered drug costs across the year at no added charge.

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

State rules that shape your choice

Federal law guarantees you a Medigap open enrollment period — six months starting the first month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During that window, insurers cannot use your health history to deny you a policy or charge you more. Miss it, and outside of certain guaranteed-issue situations, insurers in Washington can generally use medical underwriting when you apply or switch.

Washington also has its own consumer protections and its own way of overseeing rates. Because those details can change and can depend on your situation, it's worth confirming with an official source before you switch policies:

• Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (insurance.wa.gov)
• SHIBA — Washington's free Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors program

When you can make changes

Medigap has its own timing rules, separate from Medicare's fall Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) and the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31). Those two windows matter for Advantage and Part D plans. Medigap applications can generally be made year-round, but outside of a guaranteed-issue right, an insurer may review your health first.

If you're moving from Advantage back to Original Medicare and want a Medigap policy to go with it, timing matters a lot. SHIBA counselors can walk you through the specific right that applies to your situation before you cancel anything.