Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plans in Alabama

How Medigap pairs with Original Medicare

Original Medicare pays well but not completely. In 2026 you face a $1,736 Part A deductible for each hospital benefit period, a $283 annual Part B deductible, and then 20 percent coinsurance on most outpatient care with no upper limit. A Medigap policy sits behind Medicare and picks up those pieces. Medicare pays first, the supplement pays second, and with the more comprehensive plans your share of a major illness can be little more than the Part B deductible.

Because Medigap works with Original Medicare rather than replacing it, there is no network. You can see any doctor or hospital in the United States that accepts Medicare, with no referrals and no prior authorization from a private plan. That freedom, plus benefits that do not change from year to year, is what people are buying with the monthly premium. If you are still deciding between this approach and a network plan, our Medicare Advantage vs Medigap comparison walks through the tradeoffs.

Standardized plans, and why G and N dominate

Medigap plans come in standardized lettered versions, and every carrier's version of a letter pays identical benefits. Plan F, the old benchmark that covered everything including the Part B deductible, is closed to anyone who became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. That leaves two plans covering the vast majority of new enrollments, plus a lower-premium variant worth knowing about.

Feature	Plan G	Plan N	High Deductible Plan G
Part A hospital deductible ($1,736 in 2026)	Covered	Covered	Covered after the plan deductible
Part B coinsurance (20%)	Covered	Covered, minus small set copays for some office and emergency room visits	Covered after the plan deductible
Part B annual deductible ($283 in 2026)	You pay	You pay	You pay, and it counts toward the plan deductible
Part B excess charges	Covered	Not covered	Covered after the plan deductible
Annual plan deductible	None	None	$2,950 in 2026 before the plan pays
Premium level	Highest of the three	Moderate	Lowest

Plan G is the most comprehensive option open to new enrollees: once you pay the $283 Part B deductible, it covers essentially everything else Medicare-approved. Plan N trades a lower premium for modest copays at some office and emergency visits and no coverage for excess charges. High Deductible Plan G offers the same coverage as Plan G but only after you have paid $2,950 out of pocket in 2026, which makes it a catastrophic backstop with a much smaller premium.

Your 6-month window, and what happens after it in Alabama

Your Medigap open enrollment period starts the first month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, and it lasts 6 months. During that window every carrier must sell you any plan it offers at its best available rate, no health questions asked. This is the single most valuable enrollment right you get, and it does not repeat.

Alabama has no birthday rule and no state law creating an annual guaranteed-issue window, unlike states such as California and Oregon. Outside your 6-month window, an Alabama carrier can ask health questions, charge more, or decline you entirely, unless you qualify for one of the federal guaranteed-issue events such as your Medicare Advantage plan leaving your area or losing employer coverage. Switching Medigap carriers later to chase a better rate is often possible for healthy applicants, but it is never guaranteed, so the plan you pick at 65 deserves real care.

How Alabama Medigap premiums are priced

Most Medigap policies sold in Alabama are attained-age rated, meaning the premium is based on your current age and increases as you get older, in addition to general rate increases that affect everyone. Some carriers in the state use issue-age pricing instead, which sets the premium based on your age when you bought the policy and does not add age-based increases afterward.

An issue-age policy can start higher and age better, while an attained-age policy often looks cheapest at 65 and grows faster. Because benefits are identical for the same plan letter, the pricing method and the carrier's history of rate increases are the things actually worth comparing. That is exactly the comparison Dalton Insurance Agency runs: same plan letter, multiple carriers, priced over time rather than just at signup.

What Medigap does not do

Medigap has no drug coverage, so most clients pair it with a standalone Part D plan chosen against their actual prescription list. It also does not include the dental, vision, or fitness extras that Medicare Advantage plans advertise, though standalone dental and vision policies can fill that gap. And it will not fix a late start: if you delay Part B or drug coverage without creditable coverage elsewhere, penalties attach regardless of which Medigap plan you buy.

For the local picture, including which carriers are active in our area and how Alabama's rules compare with other states, see the Alabama Medicare guide. DIA is based in Dadeville, and Medigap comparisons are the core of what we do every day.