Ask the Expert: Who may get Medigap, and when?
The help with paying health and drug costs section in the 2024 Medicare handbook. Oct. 9, 2023. Credit: Newsday/Robert Sciarrino
I currently have traditional Medicare parts A (hospital care) and B (doctor services), a Part D policy for prescriptions and Medigap plan G+. If I switch to a Medicare Advantage plan but find it wanting, am I precluded from switching back into the Medigap plan I currently have? If not, is it a one-time allowance to switch back? (If I switched out again in the future, would I be prohibited from switching back in?)
You’ll be able to buy a Medigap policy no matter how many times you switch between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. New York law requires insurers to sell Medigap policies all year, not just during annual open enrollment season. Even if Medigap plan G+ were discontinued, it might still be available to you. (Medigap plan F has been discontinued, but it is still available to people who became eligible for Medicare before Jan. 1, 2020.)
For readers who don’t know, Medigap insurance supplements traditional Medicare. (For example, it pays the 20% of Part B medical bills that traditional Medicare doesn’t cover.) You must have traditional Medicare A and B to buy a Medigap policy. You can’t be in a Medicare Advantage plan.
There are 10 standardized Medigap plans. (G+ is a high-deductible version of plan G.) Plans with the same letter provide exactly the same benefits. Price is the only difference between them. For example, in 2024 eight companies will sell plan G on Long Island for monthly premiums ranging from $302 to $775.81; and four companies will sell plan G+, for monthly premiums ranging from $67.69 to $103.10.
The bottom line
In New York, Medigap policies are always available. Your premium can vary depending on where in New York you live, but it can’t be based on your health status or your age.
