Medigap Plan G: what it costs, and when high-deductible G wins
Enter your two quotes and a level of care: the calculator shows which version of Plan G costs less over 2027, and each one’s worst case.
Cheaper over 2027 at this level of care
High-deductible G
by $178 a year, premiums and cost sharing included
| Plan G: premiums + Part B deductible | $2,272 |
| High-deductible G ($3,050 deductible) | $2,094 |
| Worst case, Plan G | $2,272 |
| Worst case, high-deductible G | $3,710 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the data is read · independent site, not affiliated with Medicare or any insurer
Medigap Plan G pays everything Original Medicare leaves to you except the Part B deductible, $283 in 2026 and projected at $292 for 2027. Once that deductible is paid, hospital stays, nursing facility days, the 20% of Part B and doctors' excess charges cost you nothing more for the year; only the monthly premium remains. That makes Plan G the most complete plan sold to people who became eligible for Medicare in 2020 or later. Its weak point is the premium, which depends on your state, age, sex, tobacco use and ZIP code, and which no public file lists nationally: ask several insurers. The high-deductible version pays nothing until your Medicare cost sharing reaches $3,050 in 2027 ($2,950 in 2026, announced by CMS in October), then works like Plan G. It costs much less each month, and the calculator shows at what level of care the saving disappears.
What you pay with Plan G in a year
With Plan G your yearly costs are the Part B premium, the Plan G premium, the Part B deductible and your drug plan. With a quote of $170 a month, the Medigap part comes to $2,332 in a light year of care in 2027 and $2,332 in a heavy one: the difference is only the Part B deductible, already paid in the light year. That predictability is what people buy. The worst case is known in January.
High-deductible G: the arithmetic
Take a high-deductible G quote of $55 a month against $170 for Plan G. The premium saving is $1,380 a year. In exchange, in a year where your Medicare cost sharing reaches the high deductible, you pay up to $2,758 more than with Plan G (the high deductible of $3,050 minus the Part B deductible you would pay anyway). So with these quotes:
- In a light year ($1,500 of approved care), high-deductible G costs $1,194 against $2,332 for Plan G.
- In a heavy year ($30,000 of care and one admission), it costs $3,710 against $2,332.
When the yearly premium gap is larger than the extra deductible, high-deductible G is cheaper even in the worst year. When it is smaller, high-deductible G wins in light years and loses in heavy ones, and the choice depends on how likely a heavy year is for you and on how easily you could pay the deductible at once.
Plan G or high-deductible G?
Premium saved per year with HD-G
$1,440
| Extra deductible to cover in a bad year | $2,758 |
| Bad year verdict | Plan G cheaper |
2027 deductibles; Part B deductible taken at the Trustees’ projection.
What counts toward the high deductible
The deductible is met by the cost sharing Medicare leaves you: the Part A deductible, hospital coinsurance, the Part B deductible and the 20%. Premiums do not count, and neither do drugs under Part D. A single hospital admission brings the Part A deductible of $1,736 (2026) toward it at once.
Why people choose Plan G anyway
The numbers rarely make Plan G the cheapest option in a healthy year: a $0 Advantage plan or high-deductible G usually costs less. People choose it for three other reasons. It works with every doctor and hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, without a network, so snowbirds, people with family in several states and patients of a distant specialist center keep their access. It needs no referral or plan authorization for services Medicare covers. And it pays doctors' excess charges, the up to 15% that a doctor who does not accept Medicare's approved amount may add, which Plan N and most other letters leave to you.
Plan G and the Part B deductible in practice
The Part B deductible is usually met with the first visits or tests of the year, in January or February. After that, Plan G pays the 20% of every Medicare-approved service for the rest of the calendar year, and the bills you receive should show a zero balance. A bill for more than that is worth a call to the insurer.
Plan G against Plan F and Plan N
Plan F differs from G only by paying the Part B deductible, and it is closed to anyone first eligible for Medicare since January 1, 2020 (CMS announcement on the F, G and J deductibles). Plan N costs less than G but adds small office and emergency copays and leaves the Part B excess charges: the Medigap comparison shows the full chart.
Buying Plan G at the right moment
Plan G is easiest to buy in the six months that begin when you are 65 and enrolled in Part B: no health questions, standard price. Later, in most states, insurers may underwrite. Prices rise over time in almost every state, with age or with the insurer's costs, so compare the rate history an insurer gives you, not only this year's premium. Remember to add a stand-alone drug plan in the same window: Plan G covers no prescriptions, and a gap in drug coverage builds a Part D penalty.