Jesse Smedley is a Principal of Oakbridge Insurance and the founder of iHealthBrokers. He founded iHealthBrokers in 2007, and Oakbridge acquired iHealthBrokers in 2025. He has spent nearly two decades teaching people how to save money on their health insurance and navigate Medicare, and he is the author of Medicare A to Z: Your Roadmap to Medicare.
Despite all the changes and improvements to Medicare in recent years, it still has no annual out of pocket maximum. There is also still a 20% coinsurance when receiving care from doctors. Although there are ten Medigap plans that help close that gap, they don’t all close it equally. Here are the top Medicare Supplement plans, with all ten ranked from the least coverage to the most.
The number one Medigap plan in our ranking closes that gap the most for a new enrollee. However, the top three plans actually make very different bets with your money when it comes to Medicare. And the trade off is something you might not expect. It actually has nothing to do with the letter of the plan.
Understanding Original Medicare and Medigap
Before getting to the rankings, it’s important to understand the basics and some rules.
Original Medicare is excellent coverage. However, there are some financial gaps. Namely, there are deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. More problematically, there is no out of pocket maximum. That means that if you have extensive medical needs, you could have extensive medical bills.
That’s where Medigap plans step in.
How it Works
Medigap plans are also known as Medicare Supplement plans, and they fill in those financial gaps of Original Medicare. They can help cover or possibly entirely cover things like deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. Some may even impose an out of pocket maximum if necessary.
They are simply a financial solution to the out of pocket costs of Original Medicare. But they’re not going to offer additional benefits not offered by Original Medicare. Don’t look to a Medigap plan to offer things like dental, vision, hearing, or prescription drugs. You would need a separate plan for that.
Medigap has ten different letter plans, and for the most part, those benefits are standardized from state to state. Meaning that regardless of the carrier that you choose, Plan N is going to offer the same benefits.
Because of that, this ranking focuses on the benefits themselves, ranking the plans from one to ten, or ten to one, as the case may be.
However, we’re not taking into consideration the monthly premiums, although that is a very important factor when deciding which Medigap plan is right for you. That’s because, unlike the benefits, the premiums are not standardized. They can vary widely depending upon not only the letter plan that you choose, but also the carrier that you choose, the ZIP code in which you live, and whether or not you require medical underwriting.
That’s something more specific that you need to discuss with your broker.
Medicare Supplement Plans Ranked: The Bottom of the List
Let’s start with the two plans that come in at the bottom of our ranking, Plan A and Plan B.
While these plans offer the four baseline benefits that all Medigap plans must offer, they really don’t cover much else.
Plan A
Plan A offers the least coverage.
It covers your Part A coinsurance and an additional 365 days of care. Plan A covers your Part B coinsurance. It covers hospice care and the first three pints of blood if you need a transfusion. That’s really it.
Plan A still leaves a lot on the table. For example, it doesn’t cover the Part A deductible, Part B deductible, foreign travel emergencies, or provide an out of pocket maximum.
Plan B
Plan B is just one step above Plan A because it’s going to cover the Part A deductible. And that is very important.
Remember, the Part A deductible is not a once annual deductible. It is applied per benefit period, which is basically like a hospital stay. If you do have to be hospitalized more than once in a given calendar year, you might have to meet that deductible more than once.
In 2027, the Part A deductible is projected to be about $1,788, based on the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report. CMS usually announces the official number in November. If you have to be hospitalized more than once with Plan A, you might have to meet that deductible more than once.
Plan B is a little bit better than Plan A, but Plan B can actually be a little bit difficult to find.
When comparing the benefits offered by these Medigap plans and looking at their monthly premiums, we very infrequently steer our clients toward Plan A or Plan B.
Medigap Cost Sharing Plans: Plans K and L
Coming in next in our rankings are Plans K and L. These are known as the cost sharing plans.
That’s because they cover a lot of benefits, but they don’t cover them entirely. Plans K and L will cover all of the same benefits as Plans A and B. However, they’re going to cover only a percentage of them.
Plan K will cover 50% of your costs, and Plan L will cover 75% of your costs, which really is a significant amount.
Why do these plans rank a little bit higher than Plans A and B? That’s because they actually impose an out of pocket maximum.
In 2026, the out of pocket maximum for Plan K is $8,000, and for Plan L, it’s $4,000.
When you run the numbers, even though they offer that cost sharing as opposed to covering the entirety of the cost, the out of pocket maximum really does save you from some rather extensive medical bills, especially when you compare those monthly premiums to the total potential costs of Plans K and L.
Plans D and M: Less Common Medigap Options
The next step up are two plans rarely discussed, Plans M and D.
Plans M and D are going to cover everything except for the Part B deductible and Part B excess charges.
The Part B deductible is not as complicated or as expensive as the Part A deductible. It is a once annual deductible as opposed to a per benefit period deductible. In 2027, the Part B deductible is projected to be about $292, based on the Medicare Trustees’ estimate. This is once annually as opposed to per benefit period.
Both of these plans will also cover foreign travel emergencies at 80%.
The only significant difference between these plans has to do with the Part A deductible. While Plan D will cover the Part A deductible in its entirety, Plan M will only cover it at 50%.
If you don’t have to be hospitalized, or if you’re only hospitalized once, it might not be that big of a deal. But if you are someone with more extensive medical needs who has to meet more than one benefit period in a calendar year, this could really be significant.
That’s why Plan D still ranks ahead of Plan M in our estimation.
That being said, these plans are still not as popular or as widely available as Plan N. If you are considering Plan M or Plan D, make sure to compare your monthly premium very carefully against something like Plan N.
High Deductible Plan G
The next couple of plans are where things get a little bit more competitive.
Two of the plans we’ve yet to touch upon are Plan G and Plan F. However, we’re not going to focus on Plan F because it isn’t being offered to new enrollees.
Instead, let’s focus on the high deductible version of Plan G.
Plan G is going to offer the most comprehensive coverage available to new enrollees, but it also offers a high deductible version.
The high deductible version of Plan G has a deductible of $2,950 in 2026. That’s projected to increase in 2027. We’re still waiting on those final numbers.
Basically, the high deductible version of Plan G is going to offer all of the same truly comprehensive benefits of the regular Plan G, but first you have to meet that very high deductible.
However, this is traditionally offset by very, very low monthly premiums, possibly some of the lowest when comparing all of the different Medigap plans.
If you’re considering this, here’s where you really need to run those numbers. Compare the savings in annual premiums against that very high deductible cost and determine whether or not you’re the type of person who prefers a little bit more cost expenditure up front to have better peace of mind that would come with a traditional Plan G. Conversely, you may be someone who wants a little bit more financial risk, perhaps, to justify the potential cost savings with those much, much lower monthly premiums.
Legacy Medigap Plans: Plans C and F
Plan C and Plan F are legacy plans that are still available to people who are eligible.
If you are one of the people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, you could still look into one of these types of plans, and they do offer truly very comprehensive coverage.
In fact, before Plan F was phased out, it offered the most comprehensive coverage with regard to Medigap plans.
What do they cover? Everything, truly everything.
Plans C and F both cover the Part B deductible, which no plan sold to new enrollees covers.
Plan C is almost identical except it doesn’t cover Part B excess charges, which in all honesty are not that common, and they’re not even permissible in all states.
These plans offer truly comprehensive coverage. However, they are being phased out. They are not available to new enrollees. They are not available to probably most people considering Medigap plans.
These types of plans do tend to come with much higher monthly premiums.
Ultimately, once you’ve decided upon your plan letter, monthly premiums are something you’ll be taking into consideration with your broker.
Plan N: The Runner Up
We’re now down to our number two plan, which is Plan N.
Plan N will cover almost everything with the exception of the Part B deductible. No plans being offered to new enrollees do, in fact, cover the Part B deductible. Plan N will not cover Part B excess charges, either.
The lack of coverage for Part B excess charges is really the main difference between Plan G and Plan N.
What does this mean?
Part B Excess Charges
When a doctor accepts Medicare assignment, they agree to accept what Medicare is willing to pay. A doctor who does not accept assignment can charge up to 15% more than the Medicare-approved amount. This is known as a Part B excess charge.
If your Medicare Supplement plan doesn’t cover it and your doctor chooses to charge it, then you would be responsible for that excess payment.
Something important to note. It’s very easy to determine whether or not your doctor actually does charge a Part B excess charge. Simply ask them if they accept Medicare assignment.
If they do, then there should be no Part B excess charge. If they do not, then it’s something that you should be aware of.
You can choose to continue to see this doctor with the understanding that you will be responsible for that payment, or you could potentially switch to another doctor if you so choose.
These charges are not very common and, as mentioned, they’re not even permissible in all states. This probably should not be the deciding factor between Plan N and Plan G.
Unless, of course, you know that the doctor you have to see charges Part B excess charges and this is going to offset the potential difference in monthly premiums.
Copays
There are also some minimal copays that can be associated with Plan N. For example, up to $20 for some office visits or $50 for the ER.
These probably aren’t make it or break it details that are going to help you determine between Plan N and Plan G, but they are something to take into consideration.
Plan G: The Best Medigap Plan for New Enrollees
Finally, we have our winner. It likely will not come as a surprise that the winner of our Medigap ranking is, in fact, Plan G.
Plan G offers the most comprehensive coverage available to new enrollees. It will cover everything except for the Part B deductible.
It is going to offer you the most comprehensive coverage. If you’re someone who values peace of mind and wants predictable medical spending, then this is probably the best route to pursue.
It’s very easy to estimate your upcoming medical spending with Plan G because almost everything is covered. You just need to factor in your monthly premiums as well as that Part B deductible, and basically that’s it.
Choosing a Medigap Plan: Why the Carrier Matters
Choosing the letter plan is probably the easier part of Medigap shopping. There are other things you need to take into consideration as well.
As mentioned earlier, the letter plan doesn’t actually give you an idea of what the cost is going to be. That’s determined by the area in which you live, the carrier, and the type of plan it is, i.e., community rated, issue age, or attained age.
Although these plans are offered by private carriers, things like Aetna, Blue Shield, Humana, etc., the carrier actually doesn’t dictate whether or not your doctor will accept your Medicare Supplement plan.
As long as your doctor accepts Original Medicare, and almost all do, they will accept your Medicare Supplement plan.
Why Your Medigap Carrier Matters
Why is the carrier really important?
Every year, premiums tend to increase to account for rising health care costs and inflation. However, some carriers have a better history than others.
Certain carriers have a history of more stable, lower rate increases, while others have a history of more dramatic rate increases.
This is definitely something you want to speak to your broker about because this information isn’t necessarily easily accessible.
Community Rated, Issue Age, and Attained Age Plans
There are also community rated plans, issue age plans, and attained age plans.
Community rated plans are plans where the price is determined basically based on the community, the area in which the plan is offered.
Then there are things like issue age and attained age plans, and this is where those prices really can diverge.
With issue age plans, the prices are determined by the age you are when the plan is issued, as opposed to attained age plans. These prices are determined by your age every year, the age you attain.
While an issue age plan may seem like it has perhaps a slightly higher monthly premium in the beginning, it’s going to remain more stable as opposed to an attained age plan, which is likely to increase at a more dramatic rate year over year.
And remember, it’s not like you can start with an attained age plan and just easily switch to an issue age plan.
Medigap Enrollment and Medical Underwriting
With Medigap plans, your guaranteed window is the Medigap Open Enrollment Period: the six months that start when you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. Outside that window, you only get guaranteed issue in certain situations or if your state has its own rules.
During this time, there is no medical underwriting. That means you can’t be charged more or denied based on your health.
If you choose to enroll or even switch plans after the six month window, then you may be subject to medical underwriting, which means you could be charged more or denied completely.
Unfortunately, when enrolling in a Medigap plan, you need to think not just about now, but about the future as well. Our Medicare enrollment guide covers every deadline.
Get Help Choosing Your Medigap Plan
With Medicare Supplement plans ranked by benefits, Plan G comes out on top for most new enrollees, with Plan N as the runner-up. The right pick still depends on your premiums, your carrier’s rate history and your health. For a side-by-side look at Plan G and Medicare Advantage, read Plan G vs. Medicare Advantage, or see our best and worst Medigap plans for 2026.
Want a second set of eyes? Get your free quotes or call a licensed broker at (866) 260-9829.
