Medicare Supplement Plan G, Explained for Arizona Seniors

If you have started shopping Medicare Supplement plans in Arizona, you have almost certainly run into Plan G. It is the letter most people end up comparing, and it is also the one that generates the most confusion, because a dozen different companies will sell you something that sounds different and is, in the ways that matter, identical.

Here is what is actually going on.

Medigap plans are standardized by letter

This is the fact everything else follows from. Medigap plans are identified by letters A through N, each with different benefits, costs and premium amounts. Each plan must offer the same basic benefits no matter which company offers it.

So a Plan G from one carrier and a Plan G from another carrier provide the same core coverage. Not similar coverage. The same basic benefits, by design.

That has a direct consequence for how you should shop: since the coverage inside a letter does not vary, the differences that remain are the monthly premium, how aggressively that carrier has raised rates in the past, and how the company treats you when you need something. Those are real differences, and they are worth money. But they are not coverage differences.

What Plan G does

Medicare generally covers 80% of medical costs. A Medicare Supplement plan covers the balance of the 20% not paid by Medicare, depending on the plan selected. Plan G is one of the more comprehensive letters, which is why it is so widely compared.

Practically, that means:

• You keep Original Medicare. Plan G works alongside Parts A and B rather than replacing them.
• No network. This plan allows you to see any doctor who accepts Medicare anywhere in the country. There is nothing to check before an appointment and no referral structure.
• You pay a monthly premium. You will not receive a bill unless it is for a service that Medicare does not cover at all.
• Prescriptions are separate. Part D prescription plans are not covered with Medigap plans, so you will need a separate Part D plan as well.

Because the specific cost-sharing amounts attached to the lettered plans are set federally and can change from year to year, the current-year figures are worth confirming against medicare.gov or with a licensed agent rather than reading them off any website, including this one.

Plan G versus Plan N

Plan N is the other letter people commonly weigh against Plan G. Both are Medigap, both are standardized, and both keep Original Medicare's nationwide access.

The general shape of the trade-off is that Plan N typically carries a lower monthly premium in exchange for the member picking up certain copays at the point of care that Plan G would absorb. Which is better depends on how often you actually see doctors, and on the premium gap between the two in your ZIP code that year.

That last part matters more than most comparison articles admit. The premium spread between G and N is not fixed. It moves by carrier and by area, and in some years and some ZIP codes the gap is wide enough to change the answer entirely. This is a "run the numbers on your situation" question, not a "which letter is best" question.

Where people lose money on Plan G

Not by picking the wrong letter. By keeping the same policy too long.

It is not uncommon for your Supplement premium to go up around 10% per year. Meanwhile the benefits inside your plan letter have not changed, because they cannot. So the drift is pure price.

It is wise to re-shop your Supplement every two to three years to make sure your monthly premium is in alignment with current market premiums. You can re-shop your Medigap plan any time during the year; the Annual Election Period does not apply to you. That last point surprises people who are used to being told they have to wait until October.

We see this constantly: a client on a perfectly good Plan G who has simply been rolled forward through several annual increases while a different carrier sells the identical Plan G for meaningfully less.

What to bring to the conversation

If you want a useful comparison rather than a sales pitch, come with:

1. Your current plan letter and carrier, if you already have a Supplement. 2. What you currently pay per month, including your Part D premium. 3. Your ZIP code, since availability and pricing are local. 4. Your prescription list, for the Part D half of the decision.

That is enough for a licensed agent to price your exact letter across every carrier available to you and tell you plainly whether you are paying market rate.

Is Plan G even the right structure?

Worth asking. A Supplement is one of two structures, and the other one, Medicare Advantage, works completely differently. Our side-by-side comparison of Medicare Advantage and Medigap lays out which situations point which way, and our Arizona Medicare Supplement page goes deeper on how Medigap works here specifically.

If you would rather just have someone check it for you, that is what we do, and it costs you nothing. Carriers pay agents a standard commission regardless of which plan you choose, so there is no financial incentive for us to steer you anywhere.