Medicare Advantage vs Medigap cost comparison

Because the two paths behave differently depending on how much care you use. A typical year usually favours Advantage on cost; a heavy-use year usually favours Medigap, because its costs barely move while Advantage climbs toward its maximum out-of-pocket.

Seeing both is the point — the question is which of the two years you would rather insure against.

It is modelled on Plan G: after premiums, the Part B annual deductible — $283 in 2026 — is normally the only bill for Medicare-approved services.

The comparison also adds a standalone Part D premium to the Medigap path, because drug coverage is separate there.

No, and that is a real limitation. It compares dollars only. Networks, referral requirements, travel coverage and each plan’s drug formulary are not in the arithmetic.

For many people those decide the answer regardless of which column is cheaper.

On the plan’s Summary of Benefits, listed as the in-network MOOP. Out-of-network care can have a separate, higher limit, or none at all on some plan types.

Use the in-network figure for this comparison and treat it as the floor of a bad year, not the ceiling.

No. It is an estimate computed from published plan-year figures and the details you type in. It is not an offer of coverage or a determination of eligibility.

Your final premium and eligibility are confirmed at enrollment on HealthCare.gov or with the carrier.

From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcements for plan year 2026. They are plan-year stamped and reviewed each January, when the federal government publishes the new ones.

If a figure here does not match what you see elsewhere, check which plan year the other source is quoting first.

Nothing. Carriers pay a commission when a plan is issued, and that commission is already built into the plan price whether you use an agent or not.

Buying the same plan on your own does not make it cheaper — it just means nobody checked your doctors and prescriptions first, and nobody picks up the phone in March when something goes wrong.

No, and no agency does. We are independent, which means we compare across the carriers listed on this site rather than representing a single one — but that is not the same as offering every plan on the market.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 8 organizations which offer 72 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.