Switching Medigap plans: same coverage, lower price

The two kinds of switch

• Same letter, cheaper company. Nothing about your coverage changes — not the deductible treatment, not a single benefit. You are comparing prices on an identical product, which is the easiest shopping in all of insurance. Differences of $50–$100 a month for the same Plan G in the same ZIP code are common.
• A different letter. Usually a downgrade to cut premium: Plan G → Plan N (you take on up-to-$20 office and up-to-$50 ER copays, and the small risk of "excess charges" from non-participating doctors), or Plan G → high-deductible Plan G (you take on a yearly deductible, about $2,950 in 2026, in exchange for the cheapest premiums sold). Whether the premium saved beats the copays taken on is arithmetic — run your actual visit counts through the Medicare cost comparison and see.

When you can switch — and the catch

Any month of any year; Medigap has no season. The catch is the same one as buying late: outside narrow guaranteed-issue situations, the new company can ask health questions and decline you. In most states (Indiana included) that's true even for a same-letter switch to a cheaper carrier. A number of states soften this — "birthday rule" states (California, Oregon, Illinois, and others) allow an annual no-questions switch to equal or lesser coverage, and New York and Connecticut take applicants year-round. The details live on the health-questions-door page, and your state SHIP knows your state's exact rules.

The rules of a safe switch

• Never cancel the old policy until the new one is approved and in force. This is the only way a switch can really hurt you. Apply, get approved, set the start date — then cancel.
• Use the 30-day free look. After your new policy starts, you have 30 days to change your mind. You pay both premiums for that month — think of it as the fee for switching with a parachute.
• Ask about the rate-increase history, not just year one. Some carriers price low to win you, then raise hard. An independent broker (or your state insurance department's rate filings) can show a carrier's increase history in your state. A $10/month saving from a carrier with a history of 12% annual increases is no saving.
• Ask how the policy is priced. "Attained-age" premiums rise as you get older (most common, cheapest at 65). "Issue-age" locks to the age you bought. "Community-rated" charges everyone the same. Two identical quotes today can be hundreds apart in ten years.
• Watch for a waiting period. If you've had Medigap continuously, the new insurer generally can't impose a pre-existing-condition wait; gaps in coverage can change that. One more reason the old policy stays until the new one starts.

Is switching worth the effort?

For a same-letter switch, the math is one line: (old premium − new premium) × 12, minus nothing, because the coverage is identical. For a letter change, put your real visit counts into the cost comparison — it computes the Plan N copays and the high-deductible exposure from the care you actually use, next to the premiums you'd actually pay. And if the quotes you're comparing came from an agent, remember what they're paid on: commissions differ by carrier; the arithmetic doesn't.