Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans in Ohio

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 Ohio Department of Insurance regulates the policies; the benefits inside each plan letter are set federally, and OSHIIP (800-686-1578) will run a free, personalized comparison of Ohio Medigap plans for you.

How Medigap is different from Advantage

The plans Ohioans 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. It starts the month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During it, every plan a company sells is guaranteed available regardless of health. OPERS retirees who use the HRA and buy a Medigap policy through Via Benefits are in this same window; see retiree coverage.
• 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. The 2026 non-renewals triggered this for many Ohioans, and the Ohio Department of Insurance has published a separate guaranteed-issue opportunity for Ohioans who were disenrolled from Medicaid — if that is you, ask promptly, because these windows are measured in weeks.
• Under 65 on disability. Ohio is one of the few states with no requirement that insurers sell Medigap to people under 65 on Medicare, so a policy is usually unavailable until 65. Medicare Advantage plans, including Chronic and Dual Special Needs Plans, are the practical route in the meantime, and a full open enrollment arrives at 65.
• Outside those windows, Ohio insurers can use medical underwriting, and Ohio 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 Ohio 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 Ohio Department of Insurance, and a policy that looks cheap at 65 can be the expensive one by 75. We publish that filing history on our research site, Ohio 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 — Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals in the same year, the James from a county three hours away, a Mayo or Pittsburgh referral — predictable costs, and coverage that travels. That last point is why so many Ohio snowbirds keep a supplement. The cost is a monthly premium that rises with age and with the carrier’s filings.