Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans in Hawaii

Medicare Supplement insurance — usually called Medigap — is private coverage that pairs with Original Medicare (Parts A and B). Instead of replacing Medicare, it fills the gaps: the deductibles, copayments and coinsurance you’d otherwise pay yourself. You then add a standalone Part D drug plan for prescriptions. The Hawaii Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs regulates the policies; the benefits inside each plan letter are set federally.

How Medigap is different from Advantage

The plans people in Hawaii actually buy

Plan G covers everything Original Medicare leaves behind except the Part B deductible ($283 in 2026). Plan N costs less in exchange for small office and emergency copays and no coverage of Part B excess charges. High-deductible Plan G has a much lower premium and a deductible you pay first. Plan F still exists for people who were eligible before 2020 but cannot be sold to anyone newer. Because benefits are standardized, we compare companies on price and on how fast they have raised it.

When you can buy one without health questions

• Your six-month open enrollment, at any age. It starts the month you are enrolled in Part B. Federal law guarantees that window only at 65 and older; Hawaii law extends it to everyone, so a person under 65 on Medicare because of a disability gets every plan from every insurer, guaranteed issue, at the same rates as a 65-year-old. A second open enrollment arrives at 65.
• Guaranteed-issue events. Losing an Advantage plan or employer coverage through no fault of your own gives you a window (generally 63 days) to buy certain plans without underwriting.
• Outside those windows, Hawaii insurers can use medical underwriting, and Hawaii has no birthday rule, anniversary rule or annual Medigap window. Switching later usually means answering health questions.

Compare the rate history, not just the first-year price

Because the benefits are standardized, the only real differences between Hawaii Medigap companies are what they charge and how steeply they raise it later. That second part is public: every carrier files its rate increases with the Hawaii Insurance Division, and a policy that looks cheap at 65 can be the expensive one by 75. We publish that filing history on our research site, Hawaii Medigap rate history, with each figure tied to the filing it came from. If your premium has already gone up and you want to know why, why Medigap premiums increase covers the three causes.

Who Medigap tends to suit

People who want maximum freedom to choose doctors and hospitals — Queen’s from Molokai, a mainland cancer center from Hilo, Wilcox and Straub in the same year — predictable costs, and coverage that travels. That is why so many neighbor island residents and people who travel for care keep a supplement. The exceptions are Kaiser members, who need Senior Advantage to keep Kaiser, and military retirees with TRICARE For Life, who usually do not need a supplement at all. The cost is a monthly premium that rises with age and with the carrier’s filings.