There are 10 standard Medicare supplement (“Medigap”) policies, labeled A through J. Each Plan A, B, C, etc., must offer the same benefits, no more and no less.
Plan A offers basic coverage: hospital co-payments and doctor’s bills up to Medicare-approved limits. As might be expected, the costs for Plan A are the lowest among Medigap policies. A 65-year-old female could pay as little as $350 a year for Plan A in some states; even in the most expensive areas, Plan A is available for less than $900 per year.
(Prices might be much higher, up to $2,478 per year, but that can be misleading. Insurers must offer plan A if they want to offer any others in a particular state so some companies may intentionally overprice Plan A, if they don’t seek to sell that policy.)
Other plans offer a variety of additional features, including some limited reimbursements for prescription drugs. A fully-loaded Plan J (covering up to $3,000 worth of prescription drugs a year) generally ranges between $2,000 and $3,000 a year, for that 65-year-old female. Medigap buyers should shop around because the cost of coverage can vary drastically by insurance provider, even for identical plans offering the same benefits in the same location.
