Medicare Supplement
Medigap Open Enrollment: Your Six-Month Window With No Health Questions
Your Medigap open enrollment window lasts 6 months from when Part B starts at age 65 or older. Inside it, you can buy any policy sold in your state, even with health problems.
Key takeaways
- Your window lasts 6 months after your Part B coverage starts, at age 65 or older.
- In that window, you may be able to buy any Medigap policy sold in your state, even if you have health problems.
- The window does not reopen. There is no fall sign-up time for it each year.
- After the window ends, a company does not have to sell you a policy, unless a set protection called a guaranteed issue right fits you.
- A policy bought later may cost more.
- No Medigap premium figure is stated in this guide. Companies set those prices, not Medicare.
- The Part B premium is $202.90 per month and the Part B deductible is $283 for the year (Ledger A1 and A2). You pay both with or without a Medigap policy.
Most Medicare choices come back each year. You can shop for a drug plan each fall. This one does not come back. Your Medigap open enrollment window opens once, when your Part B starts at age 65 or older. It lasts 6 months. Inside that window, a company must sell you a policy and cannot ask about your health in the way it can later. This guide explains when the window opens, what it protects, and what changes when it ends. Our Medicare Supplement section holds more guides on these policies.
When the window opens
Medicare.gov says the best time to buy a Medigap policy is when you are 65 or older and first get Part A and Part B. In most cases, you need Part A and Part B to buy a policy at all.
Your Medigap Open Enrollment Period gives you 6 months after your Part B coverage starts to buy a policy. That start date is the key date. It is not your 65th birthday by itself. If you delay Part B because you still work, your window opens when your Part B starts, not when you turn 65.
Write that date down. Count 6 months from it. That is your window. A free counselor or your state insurance office can confirm the exact end date for your case.
What the window protects
Inside the window, you may be able to buy any Medigap policy sold in your state. That holds even if you have health problems. A company cannot turn you away for your health in the way it can after the window ends.
This is why the window matters so much for people in poor health. A person with a long health history gets the same right to buy as a person with none. The plans are set by letter, such as Plan G or Plan N. The benefits in a lettered plan are the same no matter which company sells it. Price is the only thing that differs from one company to the next for the same letter.
So shop by price inside your window. Ask more than one company for a quote on the same lettered plan. Read the policy with care before you buy. Ask about any part you do not grasp.
What changes when the window ends
After your window ends, you might not be able to buy a Medigap policy at all. If you can buy one, or if you want to switch to a new one, it may cost more.
After the window, companies do not have to sell you a policy. There is one main way out. Some people have a set protection called a guaranteed issue right. If that right fits your case, a company must sell you a policy. You will need to give the company proof of your facts.
Our guide on switching Medigap plans covers the switching rules, the birthday rules some states have, and those guaranteed issue rights in full. Read it before you count on a later chance to buy.
Some states give more rights than the federal floor. Your state insurance office can tell you what your state adds. Do not rely on a rule you heard from a friend in a new state. The state where you live is the one that counts.
If you wait to shop
Many people put this choice off. They feel well at 65. They think they will shop next year. Next year, the window is gone.
Here is the risk in clear terms. A health problem that starts after your window ends can block a later purchase. A company can ask health questions then. It can say no. It can charge more. None of that can be fixed by wishing you had acted in the window.
You do not have to buy in the first week. You have 6 months. Use the time well. Learn the lettered plans. Get quotes. Ask a free counselor to check your short list. But do not let the end date pass with no choice made, if a Medigap policy is part of your plan.
Our guide on Medigap Plans K and L for 2027 shows two lower-cost lettered plans and the caps they carry. It is a good place to see how much the letter choice changes what a policy does.
A later guide in this same group covers Medigap for people under 65 with a disability. That case is not the same as this window. Federal rules do not give the same right to people under 65, and state rules fill the gap in some states.
How to buy inside your window
One more step helps. Keep the letter that shows your Part B start date. If a company later asks when your window ran, that letter is your proof.
- Find your Part B start date and count out your 6 months.
- Pick the lettered plan that fits your needs now and in the years ahead.
- Get quotes from more than one company for that same letter.
- Ask your state insurance office if it has any complaints about a company.
- Ask a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor for free help. These counselors do not sell policies and are not tied to any company.
- Fill out the form with the company you pick, inside your window.
Who pays for what
- Original Medicare pays its share of covered care first. Medigap pays toward the costs Original Medicare leaves, like coinsurance and deductibles. A Medigap policy does not cover a service on its own.
- You pay the Part B premium of $202.90 per month (Ledger A1) and, where it applies, the Part B deductible of $283 for the year (Ledger A2). A Medigap policy does not remove the Part B premium.
- You pay the Medigap premium your company sets. This guide states no premium figure for any policy, since companies set those prices and they vary by company and by state.
- Medicare Advantage is a new route, not a Medigap policy. A person does not hold both at the same time for the same care.
- Medicaid can help with costs for people who qualify through their state.
- Private pay covers care Medicare does not cover and costs you owe with no policy in place.
Sample situation
Sam turns 65 in May and his Part B starts that same month. His Medigap window opens when his Part B starts and runs for 6 months. Sam has a heart condition that he has had for years. Inside his window, that fact does not block him. He can buy any Medigap policy sold in his state. He gets quotes from three companies for the same lettered plan and finds the prices differ. He picks the lowest quote from a company with a clean record at his state office. He signs up well before his window ends. He keeps paying his Part B premium of $202.90 per month (Ledger A1). If Sam had waited past the end of his 6 months, a company could have asked about his heart and could have said no. Sam also put the end date of his window on his kitchen calendar in the first week. He told his wife the date too, so the task would not be lost if he got sick or got busy with other parts of the move into Medicare.
What to check before your window ends
If you are close to 65, treat this as a dated task, not a vague plan. The window is fair while it lasts. It is also final. Put the end date on your calendar the day your Part B starts.
- What is your Part B start date, and when does your 6th month end?
- Have you picked a lettered plan, or are you still at the first step?
- Have you had quotes from more than one company for that same letter?
- Did a free counselor or your state office check your plan?
- If your window has already ended, does a guaranteed issue right fit you, or does your state add a right of its own?