South Carolina Medigap: Open Enrollment, Under 65, Guaranteed Issue

South Carolina Medigap buyers get one guaranteed chance at any policy: a six-month open enrollment period that starts when they are 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B.1,2 South Carolinians under 65 who have Medicare Parts A and B for reasons other than age have a separate route under state law, because the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool must offer them Medicare supplement coverage, including Plan A.3 Outside those two routes, the South Carolina Department of Insurance's 2026 shopper's guide lists specific events that restore your right to buy, several of them with a 63-day application deadline.1

In This Guide

• South Carolina Medigap in Brief
• Your One-Time South Carolina Medigap Open Enrollment Window
• How Pre-existing Conditions Affect a South Carolina Medigap Policy
• South Carolina Medigap Under 65: The Health Insurance Pool Route
• South Carolina Medigap Guaranteed Issue and the 63-Day Clock
• Which Medigap Plans You Can Buy in South Carolina
• Medigap or Medicare Advantage: You Can't Have Both
• South Carolina Medigap Buying Windows at a Glance
• Where to Get Help With Medigap in South Carolina
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Your One-Time South Carolina Medigap Open Enrollment Window

The South Carolina Department of Insurance's 2026 Medicare Supplement Shopper's Guide says a six-month open enrollment period for Medigap begins on the first day of the month when you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.1 During that window, an insurer may not turn you down for Medicare supplement insurance because of your health.1

South Carolina's open enrollment rule sits on top of a federal one. Section 1882 of the Social Security Act, at subsection (s)(2)(A), bars a Medigap issuer from denying or conditioning a policy, or discriminating in its price, because of health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, or medical condition for anyone who applies before or during the six months beginning with the first month they are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B.2 Medicare adds that during the federal Medigap Open Enrollment Period you can enroll in any Medigap policy, and an insurance company can't use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept you.2

The South Carolina Medigap open enrollment period does not come back. The state's shopper's guide calls it "a one-time enrollment" and notes that "It doesn't repeat every year, like the Medicare Open Enrollment Period."1 South Carolina's insurance department warns that if you apply after the window closes, there is no guarantee a company will sell you a Medigap policy if you don't meet its medical underwriting requirements, or the policy may cost more.1

How Pre-existing Conditions Affect a South Carolina Medigap Policy

Even inside the six-month South Carolina Medigap open enrollment period, an insurer may exclude pre-existing health conditions for up to six months, according to the state's 2026 shopper's guide.1 A pre-existing condition exclusion has a look-back limit: the South Carolina Department of Insurance says a company can use a pre-existing condition waiting period only if your health problem was diagnosed or treated during the six months before the Medigap policy started.1

Prior creditable coverage can remove the Medigap pre-existing condition wait entirely. Medicare's guide Choosing a Medigap Policy says that if you've had at least six months of continuous prior creditable coverage, the Medigap company can't make you wait before covering a pre-existing condition, and that the coverage counts only if your break in coverage was no more than 63 days.1

Switching Medigap policies later follows a similar federal principle. Under Social Security Act Section 1882(s)(2)(C), a Medigap policy that replaces another Medigap policy in effect for six months or longer may not impose a new pre-existing condition, waiting, elimination, or probationary period for similar benefits.4 Medicare.gov cautions that, under federal rights alone, you usually can't switch Medigap policies outside your open enrollment period unless you have a guaranteed issue right, and you may pay more and answer medical questions if you switch anyway.4

South Carolina Medigap Under 65: The Health Insurance Pool Route

Federal law generally doesn't require insurance companies to sell Medigap policies to people under 65, so a person on Medicare because of a disability or End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) might not be able to buy one until turning 65.2 The South Carolina Department of Insurance lists being under 65 with a disability or ESRD among the situations in which you might not be able to buy a Medigap policy, and the state's shopper's guide says a person under 65 may only buy from a company that sells Medigap policies to people under 65 who are on Medicare.3

South Carolina's answer is the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool (SCHIP), governed by Title 38, Chapter 74 of the South Carolina Code.3 Two sections do the work for Medicare beneficiaries under 65:

• Eligibility: S.C. Code Section 38-74-30(A)(3) makes a person who has lived in South Carolina for 30 days eligible for pool coverage if the person is under 65 and covered under Medicare Parts A and B for reasons other than age.3
• The offer: S.C. Code Section 38-74-60(B) requires the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool to offer Medicare supplemental health insurance coverage to each person under 65 covered under Medicare Parts A and B for reasons other than age, and the pool's benefit plans must include Medicare supplement Plan A and Plan C.3

South Carolina's insurance department describes the same route in narrower words. The 2026 shopper's guide says South Carolina "currently only has guaranteed issue Medigap policies for individuals under the age of 65 and on Medicare due to disability through the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool (SCHIP)."3 The statute's test is Medicare "for reasons other than age," while the guide's wording is Medicare "due to disability," so a South Carolinian under 65 whose Medicare rests on another basis should confirm eligibility with the pool administrator before counting on it.3

Plan C through the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool has an additional limit: the state's shopper's guide says only applicants first eligible for Medicare before 2020 may purchase Medicare Supplement Plan C.3 The SCHIP administrator takes questions at 803-788-0500, ext. 46401 in Columbia, or 800-868-2500, ext. 46401 from outside Columbia.3

South Carolina Medigap Guaranteed Issue and the 63-Day Clock

The South Carolina Department of Insurance's 2026 shopper's guide says that in some situations you may have the right to buy a Medigap policy outside your open enrollment period, rights it calls "Medigap protections."1 When one of those Medigap protections applies, the guide says an insurance company:

• cannot deny you Medigap coverage or place conditions on a policy;
• must cover you for all pre-existing conditions; and
• cannot charge you more for a policy because of past or present health problems.1

Medicare's own guide says that in guaranteed issue situations an insurance company must sell you a Medigap policy, and that you may have additional rights under your state's laws.1 The situations below are the ones the Department of Insurance's guide lists in its appendix, not a complete statement of every right in South Carolina law, so read them alongside Brevy's national guide to Medigap guaranteed issue rights.

Situations the South Carolina shopper's guide lists

1. Your Medicare Advantage plan leaves or you move. When your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving Medicare or stops giving care in your area, or you move out of the plan's service area, South Carolina's Medigap guaranteed-issue right applies only if you switch to Original Medicare, and you may apply as early as 60 days before and no later than 63 calendar days after that coverage ends.1
2. Your employer or union coverage ends. When you have Original Medicare plus an employer group health plan (including retiree or COBRA coverage) or union coverage that pays after Medicare, and that plan is ending, South Carolina's guide sets the Medigap application deadline at no later than 63 calendar days after the latest of three dates: the date that coverage ends, the date on the notice that it is ending, or the date on a claim denial.1
3. You move out of a Medicare Select area. You have Original Medicare and a Medicare Select policy, and you move out of the Medicare Select policy's service area.1
4. You tried Medicare Advantage or PACE at 65. If you joined a Medicare Advantage plan or PACE (Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) when first eligible for Part A at 65 and, within the first year, decide to switch to Original Medicare, South Carolina's guide says you can buy any Medigap policy sold by any insurer writing this coverage in the state.1
5. You dropped Medigap to try a plan for the first time. You dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Select policy for the first time, you have been in it less than a year, and you want to switch back.1
6. Your Medigap company fails. Your Medigap insurance company goes bankrupt, or your Medigap coverage otherwise ends through no fault of your own.1
7. The company broke the rules or misled you. You leave a Medicare Advantage plan or drop a Medigap policy because the company did not follow the rules or misled you, and South Carolina's guide gives you no later than 63 calendar days from the date your coverage ends.1

For the timing of any situation on this list, confirm the deadline with the South Carolina Department of Insurance before your current coverage ends.

Which Medigap Plans You Can Buy in South Carolina

Medigap plans are standardized by letter. Medicare's 2026 guide Choosing a Medigap Policy charts the plans as A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, and N, and states that every insurance company selling Medigap policies must offer at least Plan A.1 Plans E, H, I, and J are no longer sold, although someone who already has one can generally keep it.1

Plans C and F are closed to anyone new to Medicare since 2020. Under Social Security Act Section 1882(z), a Medigap policy that covers the Part B deductible may not be sold or issued to a newly eligible Medicare beneficiary on or after January 1, 2020.1 Medicare considers you new to Medicare for this rule if you turned 65 on or after January 1, 2020, and got Part A on or after that date; people in that group have the right to buy Plans D and G instead, which give the same benefits without covering the Part B deductible.1 Someone who was eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, but hasn't yet enrolled may still be able to buy Plan C or Plan F.1

Two chart details separate some of the remaining letters. On Medicare's 2026 chart, only Plans F and G cover the Part B excess charge.1 Plan N pays 100% of the Part B coinsurance, but the enrollee pays a copayment of up to $20 for some office visits and up to $50 for emergency room visits that don't lead to an inpatient admission.1 Brevy's Plan G vs Plan N comparison walks through that choice in more detail.

Medigap or Medicare Advantage: You Can't Have Both

A Medigap policy works only with Original Medicare. Medicare's booklet Understanding Medicare Advantage Plans says you can't use Medigap to pay Medicare Advantage copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, or premiums.5 South Carolina's 2026 shopper's guide puts it plainly: "Don't buy a Medicare Supplement policy if you have a Medicare Advantage Plan. They will not work together."1

If you're in a Medicare Advantage plan, it's illegal for anyone to sell you a Medigap policy unless you're switching back to Original Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) booklet; if you aren't planning to leave the plan and someone tries anyway, CMS says to report it to your State Insurance Department.5 In South Carolina, that report goes to the South Carolina Department of Insurance.1

Leaving Medigap for Medicare Advantage carries a real risk. CMS says that in most cases, if you drop a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage plan, you may not be able to get the same policy back.5 The federal backstop is a "trial right": if you join a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time and aren't happy with it, you can buy a Medigap policy and a separate Medicare drug plan if you return to Original Medicare within 12 months of joining.5 Brevy's guide to Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage covers the broader tradeoffs.

South Carolina Medigap Buying Windows at a Glance

The table below summarizes the South Carolina Medigap routes described above, drawn from the Department of Insurance's 2026 shopper's guide, S.C. Code Sections 38-74-30 and 38-74-60, and the federal Medigap rules.1,3

Where to Get Help With Medigap in South Carolina

Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies licensed and regulated by the South Carolina Department of Insurance.1 The Department's Medicare Supplement page tells South Carolina consumers to "Stop before you sign anything and call the Department of Insurance at 803-737-6180 to confirm that the insurance company is licensed to do business in our state."1

• Free counseling: Medicare's guide tells people to call their State Insurance Department or State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for state-specific information and to visit shiphelp.org for the number of their local SHIP.1 Brevy's South Carolina Medicare hub covers the state's SHIP program in more depth.
• State aging agency: South Carolina's 2026 shopper's guide lists the South Carolina Department on Aging (803-734-9900 or 1-800-868-9095) among its additional resources.1
• Federal Medicare line: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048) connects callers with a real person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays.6

For a different kind of help with Medicare costs, Brevy's South Carolina guide explains how the Medicare Savings Programs work in the state.

Learn More

Find personalized help choosing a South Carolina Medigap policy 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.