Medicare Supplement plans in Florida, explained

Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) is extra insurance you buy from a private insurance company to help pay your share of costs in Original Medicare, like copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. It doesn't include drug coverage, and you can't have it with a Medicare Advantage Plan. Your one-time, six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, which starts the first month you have Part B and are 65 or older, is when a company can't turn you down for health problems.

What a Medigap policy helps pay, and what it leaves out

When you get care, Medicare pays first: its share of the amount Medicare approves for that care. Your Medigap policy then pays what you owe under the policy, and you pay anything left over.

Helps pay your share

Copayments
Coinsurance
Deductibles
Emergency care abroad, in some policies

Generally doesn't cover

Long-term care, like a nursing home
Vision or dental care
Hearing aids
Glasses
Private-duty nursing
Prescription drugs, in policies sold after 2005

Solid station: a Medigap policy helps pay itDashed station: in some policiesBar across the line: Medigap generally doesn't cover itAn illustration drawn from Medicare.gov, Learn what Medigap covers and How Medigap works, 2026.

For drug coverage, you can join a separate Medicare drug plan (Part D). Medicare Part D drug coverage, explained

You can't use Medigap to pay a Medicare Advantage Plan's copayments, deductibles or premiums, and you can't have both. Medicare Advantage and Medigap, compared

Six months, once

Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period lasts six months and starts the first month you have Medicare Part B and you're 65 or older. During it you can buy any Medigap policy sold in your state, and the insurance company can't deny you coverage because of pre-existing health problems. It doesn't repeat every year, the way the fall Open Enrollment Period does.

Illustration of a sandy path under arching live oaks hung with Spanish moss, the sun low over a lake beyond, in golden hour light

Part B starts, and you're 65 or older
Six months: any policy sold in your state
After it, you may not be able to buy a policy, or it may cost more.

Florida law gives you the same six-month window, starting the first month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. Florida also opens it to people under 65 who have Medicare because of a disability or end-stage renal disease. Florida Statutes section 627.6741

Same letter, same benefits: Plan G and Plan N

Medigap policies are standardized. Policies with the same letter offer the same basic benefits wherever you live and whichever company sells them, and price is the only difference between them. Most states offer ten lettered plans.

What the plan pays	Plan G	Plan N
Part A coinsurance and hospital costs	Yes	Yes
Part A deductible	Yes	Yes
Part B coinsurance or copayment	Yes	Yes, except a copayment for some office visits and for emergency room visits when you aren't admitted
Part B deductible	No	No
Part B excess charge, what a doctor may charge above the amount Medicare approves	Yes	No

Yes means the plan covers all of this benefit; No means you pay it. If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, you can't buy Plan C or Plan F.

Plan G and Plan N, compared in full

What sets a Medigap premium

Premiums vary widely by insurance company, plan and where you live, and each company decides how it sets its price. Because the benefits behind a letter are the same, compare the same letter from different companies, and ask each company for its price. You also keep paying your Part B premium, and premium amounts typically increase each year.

Community-rated
Generally the same premium for everyone, whatever their age.
Issue-age-rated
Based on your age when you buy; it doesn't rise because you get older.
Attained-age-rated
Based on your current age, so it goes up as you get older.

The price can also depend on discounts a company offers, whether it uses medical underwriting when you're outside your open enrollment period, and whether you choose a Medicare SELECT policy or a high-deductible option.

What a Medigap policy costs, and why

Switching or dropping a Medigap policy later

After you buy a policy, you might find it doesn't meet your needs: you're paying for benefits you don't need, you need more, or you want a different company or a policy that costs less. In most cases, federal law doesn't give you a right to switch Medigap policies outside your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. You can still switch if an insurer is willing to sell you a new policy, but you may pay more and have to answer medical questions.

A special right to buy
In most cases you have one when your other health coverage changes, like if you lose it. The company must then sell you a Medigap policy, cover all your pre-existing conditions, and not charge you more for past or present health problems. Apply no more than 63 days after your coverage ends.
A wait for new benefits
If you switch, you may wait up to 6 months before a new benefit or a pre-existing condition is covered. If you've had your current policy longer than 6 months and the new one has the same benefits, the new company can't make you wait.
30 days to decide
When you get a new Medigap policy, you have 30 days to decide whether to keep it. Don't cancel your first policy until you've decided to keep the second, and you'll pay both premiums for the month you have both.

Keep copies of letters, notices, emails or claim denials that show your coverage ended: you may need them with your application. If you drop your Medigap policy, you might not be able to get it or any policy back later. Your State Insurance Department can tell you about any added rights under state law.

What's illegal when someone sells you Medigap

Some sales tactics are against the law when someone sells you a Medigap policy, and Medicare.gov spells them out. It's illegal if someone tries to:

Pressure you to buy a Medigap policy, or lie to get you to switch to a new company or policy.
Sell you a second Medigap policy when they know you already have one, unless you state in writing that you plan to cancel the one you have.
Sell you a Medicare Advantage Plan when you say you want to keep Original Medicare and buy a Medigap policy.
Sell you a Medigap policy if they know you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan, unless you're switching back to Original Medicare and your plan coverage will end before the policy starts.
Sell you a Medigap policy if they know you have Medicaid, except in certain situations.
Claim that Medigap is part of Medicare or any other federal program, or that a Medicare Advantage Plan is a Medigap policy.
Claim to be a Medicare representative if they work for a Medigap insurance company.
Ask about your family history, or require you to take a genetic test.
Suggest the policy has been approved or recommended by the federal government.

Medigap is private health insurance, so check with your State Insurance Department that a policy you're interested in can be sold in your state. If you leave a Medicare Advantage Plan or drop a Medigap policy because the company didn't follow the rules or misled you, you have a right to buy certain Medigap policies sold in your state. Apply no more than 63 days after your coverage ends.

Check my license first

Look up each license number on the state's insurance license search before you call.

Jeannie Pond is a licensed health insurance agent in Florida.

Jeannie Pond helps clients with Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and Part D prescription drug plans.

Jeannie Pond, Licensed Insurance Agent, NPN 8940178. Florida W272782; Arizona 8940178; California 4524185; Georgia 2669678; Indiana 4017600 (health only); Michigan 8940178; New Jersey 3004406991; North Carolina 8940178; Tennessee 960426; Texas 1617709; Virginia 1447142 (health only); Washington 1346341.

Vista Consultants LLC dba Vista Insurance Services holds Florida insurance agency license L135539 (agency NPN 22164003), issued March 19, 2026, with Jeannie Pond as agent in charge.

Every kind of coverage, explained

Your Medigap questions, answered

What is the 6 month rule for Medicare?

It's the Medigap Open Enrollment Period: a one-time, six-month window that starts the first month you have Medicare Part B and you're 65 or older. During it you can buy any Medigap policy sold in your state, and the insurance company can't deny you coverage because of pre-existing health problems. Florida law sets the same six-month window from the first month you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. (Sources: Medicare.gov, Get Medigap basics, 2026; Florida Statutes section 627.6741, 2026.)

What is the downside of Medigap?

Here's what to weigh. You pay the insurance company a monthly premium on top of your Part B premium, and premiums typically increase each year. A policy generally doesn't cover long-term care, vision or dental care, hearing aids, glasses or private-duty nursing, and policies sold after 2005 don't include drug coverage, so you'd join a separate Part D plan. You can't have it with a Medicare Advantage Plan, and after your open enrollment period you may not be able to buy one, or it may cost more. (Source: Medicare.gov, Get Medigap costs, Learn what Medigap covers and Get Medigap basics, 2026.)

Does Medigap include prescription drug coverage?

Not in a policy you buy today. Medigap plans sold after 2005 don't include prescription drug coverage. If you want drug coverage, you can join a separate Medicare drug plan (Part D). If you buy a Medigap policy and a drug plan from the same company, you may make two separate premium payments. (Source: Medicare.gov, Learn how Medigap works, 2026.)

Can I buy a Medigap policy in Florida if I'm under 65?

Yes, if you live in Florida and have Medicare because of a disability or end-stage renal disease. Florida law requires any insurer that sells Medigap policies in Florida to offer you one, without basing the decision or the price on your health, if you ask during the six months that begin when you're eligible for Medicare for that reason and enrolled in Part B. Federal law alone doesn't require companies to sell Medigap policies to people under 65. (Sources: Florida Statutes section 627.6741, 2026; Medicare.gov, When can I buy a Medigap policy, 2026.)

Does one Medigap policy cover my spouse?

No. A Medigap policy covers only one person, so if you and your spouse both want Medigap coverage, you each buy your own policy. Some companies offer discounts, such as for married people, so ask each company how it prices a policy. (Source: Medicare.gov, Learn how Medigap works and Get Medigap costs, 2026.)

Can my Medigap policy be cancelled?

Only for a few reasons. Standardized Medigap policies renew automatically every year, even if you have health problems, as long as you pay your premiums. The company can drop you only if you stop paying premiums, you weren't truthful on the application, or the company goes bankrupt or out of business. Florida law says an insurer can't cancel or refuse to renew a Medigap policy for any reason other than nonpayment of premium or material misrepresentation. (Sources: Medicare.gov, Learn how Medigap works, 2026; Florida Statutes section 627.6741, 2026.)

Want me to reach out about Medigap?

Send me your name and a good way to reach you, or give me a call.Medicare help in Lakeland and nearby cities

Ask Jeannie to reach out Call (888) 688-9919

Jeannie Pond, Licensed Insurance Agent, NPN 8940178, licensed since 2009

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 14 organizations which offer 52 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.

1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, 24 hours a day/7 days a week

Medicare Supplement plans in Florida: what Medigap pays, and when to buy

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