Medicare Plans, Health, Life, Dental and Free Insurance Guidance That Puts You First.

Medicare Plans explained in one place

Everything on this site comes back to one decision. The Medicare Plans available to you fall into two routes, and almost every question people ask us is really a question about which route fits.

Route one: Original Medicare with a Medigap policy. You keep federal Part A and Part B, add a Medicare Supplement policy to cover what Medicare leaves behind, and add a standalone Part D drug plan. There is no network at all — any provider in the country who accepts Medicare accepts you. It costs more each month and very little at the point of care.

Route two: Medicare Advantage. A private carrier takes over your Part A and Part B benefits, usually bundles drug coverage, and often adds dental, vision and hearing. Monthly cost is low or nothing, and you pay as you use care within a local network. Most of the Medicare Plans people actually enroll in are Advantage plans.

Neither route is better in the abstract. What decides it is your doctors, your prescriptions, how much you travel, and whether a predictable premium or a low premium suits your household. A licensed agent can price both against your real situation in a single conversation.

What changed for 2026

Two federal rules now apply to the drug coverage inside all Medicare Plans, standalone or bundled. No Part D plan may charge a deductible above $615, and once you have spent $2,100 out of pocket on covered drugs your cost for the rest of the calendar year is zero. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread that amount across monthly instalments rather than facing it in January.

What still changes every January is the detail: networks, formularies, copays and supplemental benefits. The Annual Notice of Change your carrier sends by 30 September is where those changes are disclosed, and reviewing your Medicare Plans each autumn takes about half an hour.

State rules differ more than people expect

Medigap timing is set state by state, and it changes the arithmetic. Nevada gives existing policyholders 60 days from the first of their birthday month and lets them change carriers. Illinois gives 45 days from the birthday, but only between 65 and 75 and only within the same insurer family. Mississippi has no birthday rule at all. Ask about your own state before assuming a window exists.

Medicare reference charts

The charts below cover the ground most questions start from.

Not sure where to start? Start here

Most people arrive at this site because something specific has happened rather than because they wanted to read about insurance. Four situations cover most of it.

You are approaching 65. The decision is not really which plan. It is whether to take Part B now, and that depends on whether you are still working and how many people your employer has. Twenty or more and the group plan generally pays first. Fewer than twenty and Medicare pays first from the month you are eligible, which changes everything.

You are retiring or losing employer coverage. An eight-month window opens for Part B, and the forms need an employer signature. COBRA does not extend it, which surprises people every year.

Something changed. A move, a new diagnosis, a medication added, a doctor who has left your network. Any of those can turn last year’s sensible choice into this year’s wrong one.

The September letter worried you. Every Medicare Advantage and drug plan must send an Annual Notice of Change by 30 September setting out what differs from 1 January. It is the most useful document you receive all year and the one most often binned.

The choice underneath all of it

Strip away the marketing and there are two routes, and the Medicare Plans available to you divide along that line.

Keep Original Medicare, add a drug plan, and optionally add a Medigap policy to cover what Medicare leaves. Any provider in the country accepting Medicare assignment is covered. No networks, no referrals, and with a supplement your costs are largely known in advance. You pay more each month for that certainty.

Or take a Medicare Advantage plan, which replaces Parts A and B with a private plan that usually includes drug coverage and extras. Often little or nothing extra per month, capped exposure in a bad year, and a network you have to stay inside.

Neither is better. They suit different lives, and the honest comparison is a healthy year against a difficult one rather than premium against premium.

One asymmetry is worth knowing before you choose, because it is the thing that costs people most when it is explained too late. Moving into a Medicare Advantage plan is straightforward at almost any time. Moving back to a supplement years later can mean answering health questions and being declined, unless your state gives you a window. Nevada does. Illinois offers a narrow one. Mississippi offers none.

Three things to have ready

Whether you ring us, ring 1-800-MEDICARE or compare Medicare Plans yourself on Medicare.gov, the same three things decide the answer.

Your medications, with doses. Your doctors, by name, and the hospital you would want to use. And your county, confirmed rather than assumed, because plans are filed county by county and a recommendation from a friend a few miles away may name a plan that is not sold where you live.

With those three things, the Medicare Plans worth considering narrow to a handful in about an hour. Without them, any comparison is guesswork dressed up as research.

If your income is anywhere near the assistance limits, check that first — the Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help change every other number, and applying costs nothing.

Help that earns nothing from your decision

Before you accept a recommendation from anyone, including us, it is worth knowing that free counselling exists. Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program staffed by counsellors who sell nothing and earn nothing from what you choose. The national directory is at shiphelp.org, and 1-800-MEDICARE will also compare the Medicare Plans available at your address.

We are useful when a household is complicated — two people on different timelines, a specialist worth protecting, income near the assistance limits, or a supplement decision that cannot be undone later. We are not useful when the answer is already clear, and we would rather say so than take the enrolment.

Whichever route you take, review it each autumn rather than only when something goes wrong. Plans are re-filed every year, and the Medicare Plans that suited you in January can look different twelve months later. A short call each year catches the changes that would otherwise arrive as a surprise in February, and there is no fee for it.

If the plan you hold is still the right one, that is a perfectly good outcome and we will say so. Comparing Medicare Plans is worth doing annually; changing them is not.

Check any of this independently

You should never take an agency’s word for how Medicare Plans work, including ours. Each of these is free and sells nothing.

• Medicare.gov Plan Compare — every plan sold in your ZIP code, with star ratings and your prescriptions priced in
• SHIP National Technical Assistance Center — free one-to-one counselling in every state
• Social Security Administration — Extra Help with prescription drug costs
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners — look up any agent’s licence and complaint history

When you are ready to compare Medicare Plans against your own doctors and prescriptions, call (877) 808-2900. There is no cost, no obligation, and if the right answer is a plan we do not represent, we will tell you so.