What’s new in Medigap for 2024: A complete benefit breakdown
Medicare supplement policies available in 2024 include the plans A, B, D, G, K, L, M and N. Each plan offers a set of benefits to help pay costs original Medicare does not cover.
Below you will find basic information about the benefits, deductibles and co-payments of each plan, helping you choose a Medigap policy. An ‘x’ indicates 100% coverage, while a number indicates to which percentage the specific item is covered.
Choosing a Medigap policy:
The Medicare supplement plans chart below shows information about the benefits of each Medigap policy:
| Benefits | Medigap Plans 2024 | |||||||||
| A | B | D | G* | K | L | M | N | |||
| Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Part B coinsurance or co-payment | x | x | x | x | 50% | 75% | x | x*** | ||
| Blood (first 3 pints) | x | x | x | x | 50% | 75% | x | x | ||
| Part A hospice care coinsurance or co-payment | x | x | x | x | 50% | 75% | x | x | ||
| Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance | x | x | 50% | 75% | x | x | ||||
| Part A deductible | x | x | x | 50% | 75% | 50% | x | |||
| Part B deductible | ||||||||||
| Part B excess charge | x | |||||||||
| Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) | 80% | 80% | 80% | 80% | ||||||
| Out-of-pocket limit** | $7,060 | $3,530 | ||||||||
* Plan G also offers a high-deductible plan in some states. With this option, you must pay for Medicare-covered costs (coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles) up to the deductible before your policy pays anything.
** After you meet your out-of-pocket yearly limit and your yearly Part B deductible, the Medigap plan pays 100% of covered services for the rest of the calendar year.
*** Plan N pays 100% of the Part B coinsurance, except for a copayment of up to $20 for some office visits and up to a $50 copayment for emergency room visits that don’t result in inpatient admission.
Source: https://www.medicare.gov/
Be aware though that supplemental plans (sold after 2006) do not cover prescription drugs. Medicare beneficiaries will therefore have to add a stand-alone prescription drug plan (PSD or Part D of Medicare) in order be covered for prescriptions.
Plans C and F aren’t available to people who were newly eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020.
If a medical service provider accepts Medicare they will usually also accept Medigap insurance. Medicare will still pay first as it is your primary coverage, before Medigap will pay its share.
In order to be eligible for a Medigap plan, you must have Medicare Part A and B. You may first apply during the so called ‘initial enrollment’ which is typically within 6 months of your initial enrollment. Insurance companies must accept you during this time, even when you have a pre-existing medical condition. If you want to enroll at a later time, an insurer does not have to accept your application unless you meet their ‘underwriting’ requirements, which means you may have to undergo health screening. There are, however, exceptional situations that grant you a ‘guaranteed issue right’.
They are offered by private insurers, which are required to comply with federal and state regulations. The standardization makes the plans easily comparable. Plan L sold by insurer #1 has by law to provide the same benefits as plan L offered by insurer #2. As the same plan may be sold by several private insurance companies in your state and each provider is free to set its premium, it pays to comparison shop before you enroll.
Although there are ten different sets of benefits, deductible and co-payments, comparing Medigap plans is not as difficult as it may look at first. If you don’t take the time to evaluate and compare plan options and costs, you may end up with a plan that may not best suit your personal medical needs, or overpay.
These standardized Medicare supplement plans are available in all states except for Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Each plan offers various benefits, all are regulated by the government. The insurance companies selling them vary from state to state, as each insurer needs to be approved, and not all are offering each plan.
The different plans were designed, so Medicare beneficiaries may select from various benefits, low to high deductibles and different co-payments the one that best fits their individual needs. Make sure you are sure which plan best provides the coverage that meets your health care needs, before you start comparing quotes.
Medicare supplement plans in Massachusetts, Minnesota, or Wisconsin
If you live in one of these 3 states, Medigap policies are standardized differently. Visit Medicare.gov for more details.
