The Best Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plans in Virginia

Medicare Part A and Part B coverage is known collectively as Original Medicare. Medicare Supplement Insurance plans help pay for costs like deductibles and copays that are not fully covered by Original Medicare. These plans are often called Medigap plans because they offer financial assistance in filling in the gaps in coverage left by Original Medicare.

Nearly 450,000 Virginia residents are enrolled in Medigap coverage, which is 40% of Original Medicare beneficiaries in the state.¹ If you are interested in learning more about Medigap plans, continue reading to get the latest information on these supplementary insurance options for Medicare recipients.

What Are the Best Virginia Medicare Supplement Plans?

Like most other places in the United States, Virginia offers access to 10 separate Medicare Supplement Insurance plans. Each of these plans is referred to by a letter and is standardized. This means that your Medigap Plan A insurance coverage will be the same regardless of which insurance company you choose. The only difference between plans of the same letter is in the costs for premiums.

Certain basic features will be included in every Virginia Medigap plan. Medicare Part A coinsurance, for example, is included in every Medicare Supplement Insurance plan. Part B coinsurance is also covered, but not every plan covers it at 100%. Your Medigap plan will cover an additional year of hospitalization costs to supplement the benefits covered by Medicare. Some of your deductible expenses may also be covered by your Medigap insurance policy.

For most Virginia Medicare recipients, Plans F, G and N offer affordable premiums and many of the most-wanted features in the Medigap marketplace. The high-deductible versions of Plan F and G offer solid value for Medicare recipients, and Plan N features much lower copays for Medicare-covered services that include emergency room trips and visits to your regular physician.

Not all plans are available to those newly eligible for Medicare. Provisions in the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act eliminated the ability to enroll in Medigap Plans C and F for anyone who first became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. If you were eligible to enroll before that date, however, you can still obtain Medigap coverage under Plan C or Plan F for as long as these plans are offered for purchase in Virginia.

How Do I Enroll in a Virginia Medigap Plan?

For most people, the best time to enroll in Medigap coverage is during the first six months of eligibility after turning 65. During this time, you will enjoy added access to Medigap options:

• You will be able to enroll in any plan available in Virginia without worrying about pre-existing conditions. Insurers must accept and approve your application for the Medigap plan you choose during this six-month period.
  
  
• You will pay premiums equivalent to those paid by a person with no pre-existing conditions for your plan.

Once this initial period of eligibility is over, however, insurers are free to use their own risk assessment and underwriting processes to approve or to deny your application for Medigap coverage based on any pre-existing conditions you may have. This could potentially lead to much higher rates for Medigap coverage. If your medical issues are serious enough, you may even be denied Medicare Supplement Insurance by one or more insurance companies.

Some Medigap insurance providers may require a waiting period of as long as six months before coverage is available for pre-existing conditions. If you have maintained insurance for these conditions for the past six months before applying for Medicare Supplement Insurance, however, this waiting period may not apply to you. 

In some cases, you may lose Medigap coverage through no fault of your own. Perhaps the company through which you obtain this insurance goes bankrupt or is no longer offering plans in your area. If you find yourself in this situation, you may be eligible for favorable treatment in obtaining Medigap insurance. Guaranteed issue rights are available to allow you to buy Medigap plans on the same terms that were available to you during your initial eligibility. You can typically also qualify for guaranteed issue rights for Medicare Supplement Insurance if you enroll in Medicare Advantage and wish to switch to Medigap within the first year of coverage.