Retirees Using Certain Medicare Supplement Plans Will See a $3,050 Deductible in 2027

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Health insurance premiums and other medical costs keep climbing as healthcare use rises, treatments and medications become more expensive, and private insurers adjust coverage choices. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced updated deductibles for high-deductible Medigap Plans F, G, and J, which help pay costs not covered by Original Medicare. In 2027, the deductible for these plans will rise to $3,050, up $100 from the 2026 amount of $2,950. That means retirees enrolled in these plans may need to cover an extra $100 out of pocket before their Medigap benefits begin paying.

This is the biggest increase since 2024, when the deductible moved from $2,700 in 2023 to $2,800. The deductible then rose by $70 in 2025 and by $80 in 2026. Standard Medigap Plans F and G do not come with the same high-deductible requirement. Some beneficiaries choose the high-deductible versions because the monthly premiums are lower, but the growing deductible raises the question of whether the tradeoff still makes sense.

Medigap Plans F, G, and J: standard coverage versus high-deductible options

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Medicare Plans F, G, and J offer different levels of protection for expenses that Original Medicare does not pay. Plan F is available only to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020, while Plan J stopped taking new enrollees in June 2010. Current Plan J policyholders may keep their coverage. The plan was discontinued after Medicare Part D was introduced and made that coverage unnecessary. Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, Medigap policies that cover the Part B deductible cannot be sold to people newly eligible for Medicare starting in 2020.

According to NerdWallet, monthly premiums for a standard Medigap Plan F begin at $184 for a 75-year-old woman in Atlanta who does not smoke. Because Plan F covers the Part B deductible, that would put annual Medigap premium costs at $2,208, not including Original Medicare premiums or other expenses the plan does not cover. NerdWallet also found that the starting premium for the same person in Medigap Plan G is $152 a month. Since Plan G does not cover the Medicare Part B deductible, adding the $283 deductible for 2026 brings the potential annual total to $2,107.

For that same 75-year-old Atlanta resident, high-deductible premiums could start at $67 per month for Plan F or $53 for Plan G. Using those figures as an example, a person who reaches the full $3,050 high-deductible threshold in 2027 could face combined annual Medigap premiums and eligible out-of-pocket costs of $3,854 with Plan F or $3,686 with Plan G. People who already have a high-deductible plan may want to reconsider whether paying more each month for lower overall Medicare costs is a better fit. Still, changing plans is not always guaranteed, and medical underwriting rules may apply depending on the state and the circumstances of enrollment.