The short answer: Medigap plans are standardized by letter, so Plan G covers exactly the same things at every insurance company, and so does Plan N. For most people newly eligible for Medicare in South Carolina the real decision is G or N. Plan G covers everything Original Medicare leaves except the Part B deductible. Plan N costs less each month, and in exchange you pick up small copays and the risk of Part B excess charges.

Because the benefits are fixed by law, the shopping is about price and carrier, not coverage.

What does standardized actually mean?

It means the letter defines the benefits, not the company.

Plan G from a household-name carrier and Plan G from a company you have never heard of pay exactly the same claims, in exactly the same way. Medicare does the standardizing. This is unusual in insurance and it is the single most useful thing to understand about Medigap, because it collapses the decision down to three questions: which letter, which carrier’s price, and how that carrier has treated its rates over time.

It also means paying more for a familiar name buys you nothing in coverage. That is not a criticism of big carriers. It is just what standardized means.

Which plan letters can you buy?

If you became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, Plans F and C are closed to you. Those plans covered the Part B deductible, and the law stopped selling that to newly eligible people.

That leaves G and N as the practical choices for most people, along with a high deductible version of Plan G for those who want the lowest possible monthly cost and can absorb a large deductible first. Other letters exist and are rarely the right answer.

If you already have Plan F, you can keep it. It is still worth checking what you pay against Plan G every couple of years. A closed plan takes in no new members, and pools that only get older tend to see steeper increases.

Plan G vs Plan N: the real difference

Plan G covers everything Original Medicare does not, except the Part B deductible, which you pay once a year and then stop thinking about.

Plan N is the same idea at a lower monthly price, with three tradeoffs:

  • Office visit copays of up to 20 dollars.
  • Emergency room copays of up to 50 dollars, waived if you are admitted.
  • No coverage for Part B excess charges.

The copays are minor and predictable. The excess charges are the part worth understanding.

What are excess charges, and do they matter here?

A provider who does not accept Medicare assignment can bill you up to 15 percent above the Medicare-approved amount. Several states ban this outright. South Carolina is not one of them, so the exposure exists here.

In practice the large majority of providers accept assignment, and many people on Plan N never see an excess charge. But “most providers” is not “all providers,” and it tends to be specialists and out-of-area care where it surfaces, which is exactly when you are least able to shop.

So the honest framing is not that Plan N is risky. It is that Plan G costs a bit more per month to make a category of bill impossible, and Plan N banks that difference against a risk that is usually small. Someone who sees a lot of specialists, or who travels, is buying more from Plan G than someone who sees one doctor in Sumter twice a year.

Why does the same plan cost so much more at one carrier?

This is where an independent agent earns the fee they are not charging you.

Carriers price identical benefits differently, and more importantly, they raise rates differently over time. Most Supplement policies sold in South Carolina are attained-age rated, which means your premium rises as you get older, on top of any general rate increase the carrier files.

The consequence: today’s lowest quote is not automatically the best value. A carrier can price aggressively to win new business and then increase rates steeply on that block later, and by the time you notice, underwriting may stand between you and moving. A carrier’s rate increase history is worth as much attention as its current price.

That is a genuinely hard thing to research on your own, and it is a reasonable thing to ask an agent to show you. We do this comparison across carriers from our Broad Street office in Sumter for clients across South Carolina.

Get the first decision right

There is one more reason to take this seriously up front. Your guaranteed window to buy any Medigap plan without health questions is the 6 months that begin when you are 65 and enrolled in Part B, covered in when to enroll in Medicare.

South Carolina has no birthday rule, so after that window closes, changing Medigap plans generally means underwriting, and the Annual Enrollment Period each fall does not apply to Supplements at all. The details are in our Annual Enrollment Period guide.

Which means the choice between G and N is not one you should assume you can revisit at will. Make it as though it is going to stick, because in this state it often does.

Still deciding whether a Supplement is the right structure in the first place? Start with Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Supplement, then come back to the letter.

Frequently asked questions

Is Plan G from one company different from Plan G at another? No. Medigap plans are standardized by letter, so Plan G covers exactly the same things no matter whose name is on it. What changes between carriers is the price, the rate increase history, and how they handle service. That is the entire reason it pays to compare rather than take the first quote.

What is the actual difference between Plan G and Plan N? Plan G covers everything Original Medicare leaves behind except the Part B deductible. Plan N works the same way but costs less each month in exchange for three things: you pay copays of up to 20 dollars for office visits and up to 50 dollars for emergency room visits that do not lead to admission, and Plan N does not cover Part B excess charges.

What are Part B excess charges, and do they matter in South Carolina? A provider who does not accept Medicare assignment can bill up to 15 percent above the Medicare-approved amount. Some states outlaw that. South Carolina does not, so the exposure is real here even though most providers do accept assignment. Plan G covers excess charges and Plan N does not, which is the difference that matters most when comparing the two.

Can I still buy Plan F? Only if you were eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. Plans F and C were closed to anyone newly eligible on or after that date. If you already have Plan F you can keep it, though it is worth comparing what you pay against Plan G, because a closed plan tends to get more expensive over time as no new members join it.

Why do premiums for the same plan letter vary so much? Because carriers price the same standardized benefits differently and raise rates differently over time. Most Supplement policies sold here are attained-age rated, meaning the premium rises as you get older. The lowest price today is not always the best value in five years, so a carrier’s rate increase history deserves as much attention as today’s quote.

Griffin Insurance Agency is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 7 organizations which offer 48 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.