The gap Medigap fills
Original Medicare is excellent and incomplete on purpose. In 2026 it leaves you the $1,736 hospital deductible for each benefit period, the $283 Part B deductible, and then 20 percent of every outpatient bill with no annual limit. A long illness can turn that open-ended 20 percent into real money. A Medicare Supplement is a private policy that steps in behind Medicare and pays those amounts for you.
Because Medigap plans are standardized by law, a Plan G from one carrier covers exactly what a Plan G from another carrier covers. The only differences are price, rate history and service, which is precisely why comparing carriers matters more than comparing brochures.
The letters that matter in 2026
| Benefit | Plan G | Plan N | High-Deductible G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part A hospital deductible ($1,736) | After plan deductible | ||
| Part A coinsurance and 365 extra hospital days | After plan deductible | ||
| Part B coinsurance (the 20 percent) | Except small copays | After plan deductible | |
| Part B deductible ($283) | You pay it | You pay it | You pay it |
| Part B excess charges | Not covered | After plan deductible | |
| Skilled nursing coinsurance ($217/day, days 21 to 100) | After plan deductible | ||
| Foreign travel emergency | 80% to plan limits | 80% to plan limits | After plan deductible |
| Typical premium level | Higher | Middle | Lowest |
Plan F still exists for people who were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, but it is closed to newer enrollees, and its shrinking risk pool is one reason we often recommend against clinging to it at renewal.
The six-month window that changes everything
Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period runs six months from the month you are both 65 and enrolled in Part B. Inside that window, every carrier must sell to you at standard rates, no health questions asked. Outside it, most states, Florida included, allow full medical underwriting: the carrier can review your history, charge more, or say no. Buying the right Supplement at the right time is one of the highest-leverage financial decisions of your retirement.
Never judge a Medigap carrier by its first-year teaser rate. We look at how each carrier has raised rates on existing policyholders over time, because that history, not the welcome price, is what you will live with for the next twenty years.