Georgia requires insurers to offer at least one kind of Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy to people with Medicare under 65, and it bars attained-age pricing on newer policies. Both rules matter because in 2026 Original Medicare leaves you a $283 annual Part B deductible and 20% of most outpatient bills, with no yearly out-of-pocket limit., What Georgia doesn't give you is an annual birthday rule, so the six months of guaranteed access that open at 65 still carry most of the weight.

In This Guide

How Georgia Medigap Works

A Medigap policy is private insurance that pays the deductibles and coinsurance Original Medicare leaves to you, and each policy covers one person, so a couple who both want coverage buy two policies. A Medigap policy works only alongside Original Medicare: it's illegal to knowingly sell a Medigap policy to someone enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, unless that person is switching back to Original Medicare.

Georgia sells the federally standardized lettered plans: A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N. Every policy with the same letter offers the same basic benefits regardless of the insurer, so a Plan G from one Georgia company covers what a Plan G from another covers, which is why the letter is the first choice to make and the company the second.

For 2026, Original Medicare leaves you a $283 annual Part B deductible, then 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for most outpatient care, plus a $1,736 Part A hospital deductible per benefit period. Original Medicare has no yearly out-of-pocket limit, so that 20% share is uncapped. A Part A benefit period ends once you have not received inpatient hospital care or skilled care in a skilled nursing facility for 60 days in a row, which can happen without leaving the facility, and a later inpatient admission begins a new benefit period with its own deductible, so the $1,736 can apply more than once in a calendar year.

Two Georgia Medigap Rules: Under-65 Access and the Attained-Age Ban

Medicare Supplement policies in Georgia are regulated by the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Subject 120-2-8, promulgated under the authority of O.C.G.A. Secs. 33-2-9 and 33-43-3 through 33-43-6. Two pieces of that framework do most of the work for Georgia buyers.

Georgia is on the under-65 list

The federal Medigap purchase guarantee is built around age 65: the Medigap Open Enrollment Period runs for six months starting the first month you're both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. Access below that age is a matter of state law, and Georgia has one. CMS's official guide, Choosing a Medigap Policy, lists Georgia among the states that "require insurance companies to offer at least one kind of Medigap policy to people with Medicare under 65."

CMS cautions in the same guide that states differ in scope: some extend the right to every under-65 beneficiary, others only to people eligible through a disability or End-Stage Renal Disease. So which plan letters an insurer will actually issue below 65, and on what terms, is a question to put to the carrier or a counselor rather than assume.

Budget for the price, too. Under-65 Medigap enrollees in Georgia are commonly charged materially higher premiums than people 65 and older for the same coverage. Georgia SHIP counselors will help you compare carrier quotes for free.

Georgia bars attained-age rate structures

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 120-2-8-.15(7) bars an issuer from presenting for filing or approval "a rate structure for its Medicare supplement policies or certificates issued after the effective date of the amendment of this regulation based upon attained age rating as a structure or methodology."

In practice, a Georgia Medigap premium should not increase simply because the policyholder has aged another year. Georgia Medigap premiums can still rise with inflation and with approved rate increases, so a stable rating method isn't a frozen premium.

Georgia's attained-age ban reaches only policies issued after the amendment of Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 120-2-8-.15 took effect, so on a long-held policy, ask your insurer which rating method the policy sits on. What the ban doesn't do is settle which method your policy uses instead, and the rating-methods section below covers that.

How to Use Georgia Medigap Under-65 and Rating Rules

1
Step 1

If you're under 65 and on Medicare, ask carrier by carrier

The Georgia requirement is an offer of at least one kind of policy, and scope varies, so get the plan letters and the premium in writing from each company.

2
Step 2

Call Georgia SHIP first

Georgia SHIP counselors are trained staff and volunteers; the program is not affiliated with any insurance company, and its certified counselors do not sell or solicit any type of insurance.

3
Step 3

Treat the six months at 65 as the real deadline

That six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period is the only window in Georgia when an insurer must sell you any Medigap plan it offers at the standard rate regardless of health.

4
Step 4

Ask which rating method each quote uses, and keep the answer in writing

Georgia's ban reaches rate structures filed for policies issued after the amendment of R. 120-2-8-.15 took effect, so attained age rating should not be the answer.

Plan G vs Plan N

For someone newly eligible, the Georgia decision usually comes down to two letters.

Plan G is available to people who first became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, and Plan G gives the same benefits as Plan F except that it doesn't cover the annual Part B deductible. Plan G covers:

  • The Part A deductible
  • The Part A coinsurance and hospital costs up to an additional 365 days
  • The Part B coinsurance
  • The blood benefit for the first 3 pints
  • The Part A hospice care coinsurance
  • Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
  • Part B excess charges
  • Foreign travel emergency care at 80% up to plan limits

Plan N covers the same core benefits as Plan G, including the Part A hospital deductible in full, but hands a little cost back at the point of care. Plan N pays 100% of the Part B coinsurance except for a copayment of up to $20 for some office visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits that do not lead to an inpatient admission, and Plan N doesn't cover Part B excess charges. There is also a high-deductible Plan G, which pays the same benefits as regular Plan G only after you pay Medicare-covered costs up to a separate deductible of $2,950 in 2026.

Feature Plan G Plan N
Part A hospital deductible ($1,736 per benefit period) Covered Covered
Part B coinsurance Covered in full Covered, minus up to $20 office and up to $50 ER copays
Part B excess charges Covered Not covered
Annual Part B deductible ($283 in 2026) You pay it You pay it
Skilled nursing facility coinsurance Covered Covered

The dollar amounts above are the 2026 Medicare cost-sharing figures a supplement is built around., Premium levels are set by carriers rather than by Medicare, so ask the same Georgia company for a Plan G quote and a Plan N quote and compare the two against those copays.

Plans C and F Are Closed to Newer Enrollees

Plans C and F cover the annual Part B deductible, which Plan G leaves to you. Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), any Medigap plan that pays the Part B deductible is closed to people who first became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. People who first became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020 may still buy or keep Plan C or Plan F.

The MACRA cutoff turns on your Medicare eligibility date, not your purchase date. For a Georgia buyer first eligible on or after January 1, 2020, Plan G is the closest substitute for Plan F, and the practical gap between them is one bill a year: the annual Part B deductible, $283 in 2026, which you pay yourself before Plan G starts picking up your Part B coinsurance.,

When You Can Buy or Switch Georgia Medigap

Georgia gives you fewer protected windows than states with a birthday rule, so the ones you have are worth knowing precisely.

  • The federal Medigap Open Enrollment Period. A one-time six months beginning the first month you're both 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B. During the Medigap Open Enrollment Period an insurance company can't refuse to sell you any of the Medigap policies it offers, can't use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept your application, and can't charge you more because you have health problems. One limit applies: during the Medigap Open Enrollment Period an insurer may still refuse to cover your out-of-pocket costs for a pre-existing condition for up to 6 months, and that waiting period cannot be imposed if you had at least 6 months of continuous prior creditable health coverage. Georgia's own regulation states the same six-month, age-65 open-enrollment protection at R. 120-2-8-.11(1).
  • No annual birthday rule. Several states have layered an annual switching window on top of the federal one, including California, Illinois, Maryland, Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Delaware, and Indiana. Georgia has not, and it has no other state-mandated yearly guaranteed-issue window.
  • Federal guaranteed-issue rights. Certain triggers still create a federal right to buy without underwriting, and those apply in Georgia the same as anywhere else.

Once the six-month window closes, a Georgia insurer may use medical underwriting and can decline coverage or charge more based on health, except where a federal guaranteed-issue right applies. If you start on Plan N to hold the premium down and later want Plan G, no state rule in Georgia gets you there without health questions.

How Georgia Medigap Premiums Are Set

Medigap carriers use one of three rating methods, and the rating method drives your cost over a decade more than the first-year quote does.

Rating method What sets the premium How it changes as you age Allowed in Georgia?
Community-rated (no-age-rated) Everyone pays the same premium regardless of age No increase tied to age Yes, community rating remains permissible
Issue-age-rated (entry-age-rated) Your age when the policy is first issued May rise with inflation, but not because you enter an older age bracket Yes, but Georgia does not require it
Attained-age-rated Your current age Rises automatically as you age into new brackets, typically starting cheapest and climbing steepest No, for rate structures filed on policies issued after the amendment of R. 120-2-8-.15 took effect

Barring attained-age rating matters most over time, since age-based increases otherwise stack on top of inflation and medical-cost increases.

Georgia's regulation prohibits attained-age rating rather than mandating issue-age rating, so a Georgia Medigap policy is not guaranteed to be issue-age rated, and community rating remains permissible. Ask each carrier which of the three methods its quote uses.

Beyond the method, premium levels are set by carriers rather than by Medicare, and they vary by plan letter, company, state, age, gender, smoker status, and underwriting. Two policies with the same letter cover the same care, so the premium and the rating method are what you're really comparing.

Who Regulates Georgia Medigap and How to Complain

The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire regulates Medicare Supplement policies in Georgia and reviews the rate structures insurers file. Complaints about an insurer, an agent, or how a claim is being handled go through the agency's Report Complaints and Fraud page.

For anything short of a formal complaint, Georgia SHIP is the free option. Georgia SHIP counselors help you understand your health plan choices and enroll in a Medicare plan, review Medicare Summary Notices and Explanations of Benefits, sort through medical bills and file Medicare claims and appeals, and apply for financial assistance programs that reduce Medicare out-of-pocket costs, including Extra Help and the Medicare Savings Programs. A certified Georgia SHIP counselor can be reached at 1-866-552-4464, option 4, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you buy a Medicare Supplement policy in Georgia under 65?

Yes, at least one kind of policy: CMS's official Medigap guide lists Georgia among the states that require insurance companies to offer at least one kind of Medigap policy to people with Medicare under 65. The scope and premium caveats are in the under-65 section above; get the plan letters and the premium in writing from every carrier before you compare. What that section doesn't cover is what happens later. The six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period starts the first month you're both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, so a Georgian who came onto Medicare early through a disability reaches that window on turning 65. If you're carrying a costly under-65 policy, that's the month to re-shop it, and Georgia SHIP counselors will work through the choices with you for free.

Does Georgia have a Medigap birthday rule?

No. Georgia has no annual birthday rule and no other state-mandated yearly guaranteed-issue window to switch Medigap plans. That leaves a Georgia buyer two doors instead of a yearly one. The first is the one-time six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period that begins when you're both 65 and enrolled in Part B, which is the moment to buy the plan letter you actually want rather than the cheapest one. The second is a federal guaranteed-issue right, which certain events trigger. Outside those two, a Georgia insurer may use medical underwriting.

Can my Georgia Medigap premium go up as I get older?

Not because of age alone. Georgia bars attained-age rate structures on Medicare Supplement policies issued after the amendment of R. 120-2-8-.15 took effect, so a birthday is not a lawful reason for a higher bill in Georgia. That doesn't mean the bill never moves: inflation and state-approved rate filings can push it up. So when a renewal notice shows an increase, ask the insurer in writing which rating method your policy uses and what the increase was filed on. If the answer comes back to your age, take the notice to Georgia SHIP, or to the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which reviews the rate structures insurers file.,

Does Georgia require issue-age rating?

No. Georgia bans attained-age rate structures without requiring any particular replacement, so a Georgia Medigap quote may be issue-age rated or community rated, and the price alone won't tell you which. Put two questions to each agent and keep the answers in writing: which of the three rating methods this quote uses, and what the same company charges someone a decade older for the same plan letter today. The second answer checks the first: a quote that looks cheap against its competitors is often the one that climbs fastest as you age.

Learn More

Find personalized help comparing Georgia Medigap plans and checking your under-65 options at brevy.com.


The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.