Medicare Supplement Plan F is the most comprehensive of the standardized Medigap plans sold today — it covers every cost-sharing gap on the Medigap benefit chart. It’s also, like Plan C, no longer available to people who became eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020.
What Plan F Covers
- Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs, plus up to 365 extra days after Medicare benefits run out
- Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
- The first 3 pints of blood each year
- Part A hospice care coinsurance
- Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
- The Medicare Part A deductible
- The Medicare Part B deductible
- Medicare Part B excess charges, in full
- Foreign travel emergency care, up to plan limits
That list covers every cost-sharing gap on the standard Medigap benefit chart (foreign travel emergency care is paid at 80%, up to plan limits). If you have Plan F and you receive a Medicare-covered service, you generally should not owe anything for it beyond your premium, with exceptions such as limits on how long Medicare covers certain care.
Why New Enrollees Can’t Buy Plan F
The same 2020 federal rule that closed Plan C also closed Plan F, for the same reason: because it covered the Part B deductible, supporters of the change argued it removed any incentive to be cost-conscious about routine care, so it was closed to people who are new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. If your Medicare eligibility began before that date, you may still be able to apply for Plan F today even if you haven’t enrolled in a Medigap plan yet, if a company in your area still sells it and you’re in an enrollment window or pass underwriting. You’re barred only if you both turned 65 on or after January 1, 2020 and first became eligible for Medicare on or after that date; someone who was eligible earlier (through disability, for example) can still buy it. Ohio’s rule (OAC 3901-8-08) carries the same restriction. If Plan F isn’t an option for you, Plan G — which covers everything Plan F does except the Part B deductible — is the closest available match.
High-Deductible Plan F
Plan F also comes in a high-deductible version, for people who are still eligible to buy it. Instead of covering costs from the first dollar, a High Deductible Plan F pays nothing until you’ve paid a set annual deductible out of pocket yourself (the amount is set each year and listed on Medicare.gov, and it has its own separate deductible for foreign travel emergency care), then covers the Medicare-covered costs in full for the rest of the year. In exchange, the premium is typically lower than standard Plan F. It tends to appeal to people who are comfortable covering a predictable amount out of pocket each year in exchange for lower monthly premiums — essentially self-insuring for routine costs while generally limiting exposure to Medicare-covered cost-sharing at the deductible, though not for services Medicare doesn’t cover. Not every insurer sells it in every county.
Plan F vs. Plan G: The Only Difference
People are sometimes surprised how small the actual coverage gap is between Plan F and Plan G: it’s exactly the Part B deductible, and nothing else. Plan G’s premium is usually lower than Plan F’s, and for some people the premium difference over a year is larger than the Part B deductible they’d now pay themselves. How much lower varies by company, age, and location, so it’s worth comparing the two before enrolling — or, if you already have Plan F, looking at whether switching to Plan G (where underwriting or a guaranteed-issue right allows) would actually save money.
If You Already Have Plan F
Because Plan F can only be sold to people who were eligible for Medicare before 2020, its pool of policyholders is closed to most new customers, and a pool that ages together can see rate increases that differ from those on open Plan G pools. Plan F is guaranteed renewable, so the company can’t cancel it as long as you pay the premium, but rates can change. If you’ve had Plan F for a while and haven’t compared it to current Plan G pricing recently, it’s worth doing — not because Plan F is a bad plan, but because the math underlying it can shift over the years in ways that aren’t obvious from your renewal notice alone.
The Appeal of Zero Surprises
Some of our clients who’ve kept Plan F for years aren’t chasing the lowest possible premium — they’ve told us directly that what they value is never having to think about a medical bill again. No calculating coinsurance, no wondering if a doctor’s visit will cost $20 or $200, no reading an Explanation of Benefits statement wondering what a “Medicare-approved amount” even means. That’s a legitimate reason to choose a plan, separate from the pure math, and it’s worth being honest about which kind of person you are before assuming the cheaper option is automatically the smarter one.
Where to Verify the Official Rules
In most states Medigap benefits are standardized under federal and state rules (Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin use their own standardization), and the official source for exactly what each lettered plan covers is Medicare.gov and the annual “Medicare & You” handbook. We’ll always walk you through the benefits in plain language, but we also encourage clients to look at the official chart themselves — a good agent shouldn’t mind you double-checking what they’ve told you against the source.
A Real Comparison We Ran Recently
A client who’d had Plan F for close to a decade asked us to check whether switching made sense after a friend mentioned Plan G. We compared her current premium against current Plan G rates from several carriers licensed in her county, accounted for the Part B deductible she’d now be responsible for, and found the annual savings from switching outweighed that deductible by a meaningful margin — even before factoring in that Plan G’s rate trend at that particular carrier had been more stable than Plan F’s. She did have to go through medical underwriting to switch, since she was outside her guaranteed-issue window, but she qualified without issue. Not everyone will have the same result — health history matters — which is exactly why we run the numbers and check eligibility before recommending a change either way. See Best Medicare Supplement Plans in Cincinnati for how Plan F’s closest alternatives stack up.
Common Questions About Plan F
If I have Plan F, will I ever get a medical bill?
For anything Medicare covers, generally no. The exceptions are services Medicare doesn’t cover at all — Plan F, like every Medigap plan, only pays toward Medicare-covered services, so something Medicare denies outright (certain elective procedures, for example) wouldn’t be picked up by Plan F either. Foreign travel emergency care is the one benefit that is paid at 80% rather than in full, and care that goes beyond Medicare’s own coverage limits isn’t covered either.
Can I switch from Plan F to High Deductible Plan F?
Often, as long as you’re still eligible for Plan F, and subject to the same underwriting rules as switching to any other plan, since it’s technically a different policy. We can check with your specific carrier whether they offer an easier internal conversion option.
Does Plan F cover dental, vision, or hearing?
No — Medigap plans, including Plan F, only cover gaps in Original Medicare, and Original Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental, vision, or hearing care. That’s one of the genuine advantages some Medicare Advantage plans offer instead, so if those benefits matter to you, it’s worth weighing Medicare Advantage against the Original Medicare-plus-Medigap approach as a whole, not just comparing Medigap plan letters to each other.
Applying Outside Your Open Enrollment Window
Your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period runs from the month you turn 65 (or later, if you delayed Part B) while enrolled in Part B — during that stretch, carriers generally have to accept your Plan F application regardless of health history (and Plan F is available only if you’re eligible for it under the pre-2020 rule). Miss that window and you’re generally subject to medical underwriting for a new application, meaning a carrier can ask about your health and decide whether to accept you or what to charge. There are separate guaranteed-issue situations too — for instance, if your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving your area, or an employer plan that pays after Medicare is ending — that can open a new guaranteed window even years after you first enrolled, usually with a deadline of 63 days after the old coverage ends. Medicare’s guide lists Plans A, B, C, D, F and G for these situations, while Ohio’s rule names Plans A, B, C, F, K and L for several of them, so we confirm the details with the Ohio Department of Insurance or OSHIIP. Given how comprehensive (and comparatively pricier) Plan F is, we always check first whether you actually have a guaranteed-issue right before assuming you’d need to go through underwriting.
One Plan, Not a Combination
A detail worth spelling out plainly: Plan F pairs with Original Medicare only. You can’t hold a Plan F policy on top of a Medicare Advantage plan — the two aren’t meant to stack, and no legitimate agent should sell you both to cover the same period. If you currently have Medicare Advantage and are thinking about moving to Original Medicare plus Plan F (for those still eligible) or Plan G, that’s a bigger decision involving your specific doctors, current plan’s network, and prescription coverage — worth a separate, dedicated conversation rather than folding it into a quick plan-letter comparison. See Medicare Supplement vs. Medicare Advantage: How to Actually Decide if you’re still weighing that broader decision.
What Happens if You Move
Plan F, like every Medigap policy issued since 1992, is guaranteed renewable and works the same way nationwide, since it fills gaps in Original Medicare’s coverage rather than operating through a local provider network. In general you can keep your current Medigap policy wherever you live, as long as you still have Original Medicare — but premiums for the same plan letter can vary meaningfully by state and even by county, so it’s worth having us re-shop your coverage after a move, even though nothing requires you to switch.
Let’s Run Your Numbers
Whether you’re deciding to keep Plan F, seriously considering the high-deductible version, or genuinely weighing a move over to Plan G instead, bring your current policy’s renewal notice with you when we talk. We’ll compare it against what’s actually available today from carriers serving Bethel, Cincinnati, and the rest of Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, and Warren County, and lay out the real trade-offs — no pressure, no obligation.