Medicare Supplement Insurance, also known as “Medigap,” helps to fill in the “gaps” in Original Medicare and is sold by private insurance companies. A Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy can help pay some of the remaining health care costs, as shown in the chart below, paying special attention to plans G and N (the two most popular plans available to newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries) :

Medigap Benefits | Medigap Plans | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G* | N | A | B | C | D | F* | K | L | M | ||
Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up | (G) Yes | (N) Yes | (A) Yes | (B) Yes | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) Yes | (L) Yes | (M) Yes | |
Part B coinsurance or copayment | (G) Yes | (N) Yes*** | (A) Yes | (B) Yes | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) 50% | (L) 75% | (M) Yes | |
Blood (first 3 pints) | (G) Yes | (N) Yes | (A) Yes | (B) Yes | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) 50% | (L) 75% | (M) Yes | |
Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment | (G) Yes | (N) Yes | (A) Yes | (B) Yes | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) 50% | (L) 75% | (M) Yes | |
Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance | (G) Yes | (N) Yes | (A) No | (B) No | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) 50% | (L) 75% | (M) Yes | |
Part A deductible | (G) Yes | (N) Yes | (A) No | (B) Yes | (C) Yes | (D) Yes | (F) Yes | (K) 50% | (L) 75% | (M) 50% | |
Part B deductible | (G) No | (N) No | (A) No | (B) No | (C) Yes | (D) No | (F) Yes | (K) No | (L) No | (M) No | |
Part B Excess charge If you have Original Medicare, and the amount a doctor or other health care provider is legally permitted to charge is higher than the Medicare-approved amount, the difference is called the excess charge. | (G) Yes | (N) No | (A) No | (B) No | (C) No | (D) No | (F) Yes | (K) No | (L) No | (M) No | |
Foreign travel exchange (up to plan limits) | (G) 80% | (N) 80% | (A) No | (B) No | (C) 80% | (D) 80% | (F) 80% | (K) No | (L) No | (M) 80% | |
Out-of-pocket limit** | (G) N/A | (N) N/A | (A) N/A | (B) N/A | (C) N/A | (D) N/A | (F) N/A | (K) $6,220 in 2021 | (L) $3,110 in 2021 | (M) N/A |
* Plans F and G also offer 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 amount of $2,370 in 2021 before your policy pays anything. (Plans C and F aren’t available to people who were newly eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020.)
** For Plans K and L, 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: “Medicare and You 2021”