What Medigap plans are available in 2024?
If you are on Medicare, you may want to consider the purchase of a Medigap policy (also called Medicare Supplement) for 2024 to fill the gaps in coverage. Before making a decision which of the many available plans is right, you need to do some research so that you clearly understand the benefits of each type and compare different Medigap plans.
A growing number of Medicare beneficiaries rely on some form of insurance to supplement Medicare: a retiree plan, Medicaid, an Advantage plan or a Medigap policy. Let’s briefly review some of them and compare their benefits:
To remind you how ‘traditional Medicare’ works, there is first Part A which covers hospitalization as well as Part B which primarily addresses professional services. While Part A doesn’t have a premium for most people, most persons have to pay the Part B monthly premium. The coverage of those plans has ‘gaps’, and the insured is responsible for all costs that are not covered.
To help you cover those ‘gaps’ in coverage, Medigap policies were instated. They look overwhelming at first, as there are so many different plans available, named by letters A through N. Do not confuse them with the ‘original’ Medicare Part A (Hospital), Part B (Doctor Visits), Part C (Advantage Plans), and Part D (Prescription Drugs).
Medigap policies are different from ‘original’ plans by the government. They are sold by private insurance companies. In actual practice, most companies sell only selected plans.
If you have both parts (A and B) of Medicare, and select a supplement plus a prescription drug plan with a supplement, you should be looking forward to complete medical coverage.
The good news is that you can easily compare supplement plans in 2024. A plan sold by provider A has, by law, the same benefits as the same plan sold by provider B. However, each provider is free to set the premium, so it makes sense to compare different providers in order to find the best deal for you.
Unfortunately, it is pretty difficult to select the ideal plan for your personal health care needs, as each plan comes with varying specific benefits. This is where the help of a licensed independent insurance broker who specializes in supplement policies might be valuable.
Even when you prefer to work with a specialist, it is a good idea to get a basic understanding of what the different letters cover:
Compare Medigap plans side-by-side
The chart below shows basic information about the benefits of the different Medigap policies.
Yes = 100% of this benefit is covered
No = the policy does not cover that benefit
% = the plan covers a percentage of this benefit
N/A = not applicable
| Benefits | Medigap Plans available in 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 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Part B coinsurance or copayment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 50% | 75% | Yes | Yes*** | ||
| Blood (first 3 pints) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 50% | 75% | Yes | Yes | ||
| Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 50% | 75% | Yes | Yes | ||
| Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance | No | No | Yes | Yes | 50% | 75% | Yes | Yes | ||
| Part A deductible | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 50% | 75% | 50% | Yes | ||
| Part B deductible | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| Part B excess charge | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ||
| Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) | No | No | 80% | 80% | No | No | 80% | 80% | ||
| Out-of-pocket limit** | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $7,060 | $3,530 | N/A | N/A | ||
*** Plan N pays 100% of the Part B coinsurance, except for a co-payment of up to $20 for some office visits and up to a $50 co-payment for emergency room visits that don’t result in inpatient admission.
* Plan G also offers a high-deductible plan in some states. With this option, you must pay for Medicare-covered costs (coinsurance, co-payments, and deductibles) up to the deductible before your policy pays anything.
Source: https://medicare.gov/supplements-other-insurance/how-to-compare-medigap-policies
If you live in one of these 3 states, Medigap policies are standardized differently:
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
Need more details? The official Medicare.gov website will further help you compare the different types of Medigap plans in 2024.
