Medigap Cost Calculator (My Top Pick)
Most Medigap quote tools show you one number: today’s premium. That’s useful, but it only tells you what a plan costs on day one. It won’t tell you what it might cost by year ten.
The calculator below does both. Enter your age and estimated premiums, and it projects how each plan’s cost could compare over 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years — using current pricing plus whatever rate-history data you have on hand.
Medigap Plan Comparison Calculator
Compare Plan G, Plan N, and High Deductible Plan G side by side over time
Before you run the numbers: historical rate increases can help you spot pricing patterns, but they can't predict future premiums. Every projection below is an estimate, not a guarantee. We'll walk through exactly what that means in the accuracy section below.
When available, use a multiyear average rather than a single annual increase — one unusually high or low year can distort the projection. For a more balanced comparison, consider running a lower, middle, and higher annual-increase assumption rather than relying on a single projection.
How to Read Your Results
Once you've entered your numbers, look at two things: the total cost at each milestone (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years) and which plan comes out ahead at each one.
Pay attention to whether the ranking changes over time. A plan that's cheapest today isn't always cheapest at year ten — that flip is the whole reason this tool exists.
If you're weighing Plan G against Plan N, enter a realistic estimate of your office-visit and ER use. Plan N's lower premium may still produce a lower total cost, but the result depends on the premium difference, your healthcare usage, and any other cost-sharing that may apply.
Why Today's Premium Isn't the Whole Story
A $20–$30 monthly gap between two carriers feels significant when you're comparing quotes. Over a year, that's $240–$360 in savings.
But that gap can close — or reverse — depending on how each carrier has handled rate increases.
Because the core medical benefits are standardized by plan letter in most states, carrier differences are usually found in premiums, discount rules, underwriting, service, and long-term pricing behavior — not in the standardized benefits themselves.
A Simple Example
Carrier A starts at $150/month with an assumed 9% annual increase. Carrier B starts at $170/month with an assumed 5% annual increase. At first glance, Carrier A looks like the obvious choice.
| Projection Point | Carrier A (9%/yr) | Carrier B (5%/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting premium | $150/mo | $170/mo |
| After 5 years | $231/mo | $217/mo |
| After 10 years | $355/mo | $277/mo |
After five years, Carrier A has already passed Carrier B. After ten years, the difference is more than $75 a month in Carrier B's favor.
This example applies the same assumed increase every year solely to illustrate compounding. Actual Medigap increases rarely follow a perfectly consistent pattern, and neither assumption predicts what either carrier will charge in the future.
That's why we encourage clients to review the trend behind a premium rather than judging a plan by its starting price alone.
This is exactly what the calculator is designed to illustrate. By adjusting the starting premium and assumed annual increase rate, you can see how different pricing patterns may affect long-term costs.
How Medigap Pricing Actually Works
Since benefits are standardized, the pricing model behind a quote matters more than people realize. There are three:
- Attained-age: the most common model. Premiums start lower but increase as you get older, on top of the carrier's normal annual rate increases.
- Issue-age: your age at enrollment is used to establish the policy's age-based rating category.
The premium does not increase solely because you get older, but it can still rise because of inflation, claims experience, carrier-wide adjustments, or approved rate changes. - Community-rated: age is generally not the primary basis for setting the premium. Rates can still vary for other permitted reasons and may increase because of inflation, claims experience, or carrier-wide changes.
The availability and use of each pricing method vary by state and carrier.
Confirm the rating method shown on the actual policy or quote rather than relying on a national assumption — our guide to attained-age vs. issue-age plans covers this in more depth.
None of these guarantee a cheaper long-term outcome by itself.
An attained-age plan with a low starting premium and moderate increases can still outperform an issue-age plan with a high starting premium — which is exactly why we built the calculator to run projections rather than assume one model is always better.
Premiums also vary substantially by where you live, so a national average is generally not a reliable starting point for an individualized projection.
Over the last year or two, rising Medigap premiums have changed many of the conversations I have with clients. Five years ago, I did not include High-Deductible Plan G in nearly as many client comparisons.
Today, I run the numbers more often because the premium difference between it and standard Plan G has widened in many of the markets I review.
For some applicants, I have seen High-Deductible Plan G premiums around $50–$70 per month while standard Plan G quotes may be closer to $170–$220.
These are illustrative ranges from selected markets, not national averages. Actual premiums vary by age, ZIP code, carrier, tobacco status, gender where permitted, and available discounts.
When comparing the two, run more than one scenario. First, estimate what High-Deductible Plan G could cost during a lower-use year.
Then compare a higher-use scenario in which you reach the full annual deductible. Many clients I work with do not reach the deductible in a typical year, but someone with heavier Medicare-approved healthcare use could.
The goal is not to assume High-Deductible Plan G will always cost less. It's to compare its lower premium and greater out-of-pocket exposure against the higher, more predictable premium of standard Plan G.
How Accurate Are These Projections?
These are estimates, not promises. The calculator projects forward using the rate-increase data you enter, but actual future premiums depend on several things no calculator can see in advance:
- Future state-approved rate filings
- Healthcare inflation and claims costs across the carrier's policyholder pool
- Whether a household discount you qualify for today still applies later
- Changes to the carrier's pricing strategy or market position
A carrier's past increases can suggest whether its pricing has been stable or aggressive — but a stable history doesn't guarantee stable future rates, and an aggressive history doesn't guarantee it continues.
Use these projections to compare risk between plans, not to predict an exact dollar figure ten years out. For more on how carriers typically justify these filings, see our guide on how Medigap rate increases work.
Important Limitations
- Future rate filings and carrier pricing decisions
- Changes in household or enrollment discounts
- Age-related increases not included in the rate assumption
- Plan N copays and any applicable Part B excess-charge exposure not entered into the tool
- Actual healthcare usage under High-Deductible Plan G
- Whether you can medically qualify to change plans later
Why doesn't the calculator already know my carrier's rate history?
Because Medigap premiums vary by company, ZIP code, age, pricing model, and other factors, no single historical rate applies to everyone. The calculator lets you enter the information that's most relevant to your situation rather than relying on generalized assumptions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most Medigap comparison mistakes come from treating this like a one-time price check instead of a long-term decision. We cover the full list in Medigap shopping mistakes to avoid — the ones most relevant to this calculator are:
Choosing Based on Year-One Premium Alone
A $25/month gap is real money in year one. It says nothing about year seven. Check the rate history before you decide it's the deciding factor.
Not Knowing Your State's Pricing Model
An attained-age plan that looks affordable at 65 can look very different at 75. If you don't know which model you're buying into, you're not really comparing plans — you're comparing today's numbers only.
Overweighting a Household Discount
Discounts can make a plan look far more competitive in year one. They should improve the comparison, not replace it — check what happens to the base premium if the discount rules change later.
Assuming Underwriting Won't Matter Later
Outside your Medigap Open Enrollment or a guaranteed issue window, switching carriers later usually means medical underwriting. Some people plan to move to a cheaper carrier "if rates get too high" — that plan can fall apart if your health changes.
Bottom Line
The lowest premium today is not automatically the best long-term value, but it is not automatically the wrong choice either. Enter the actual premiums available to you, use realistic healthcare-use assumptions, and test more than one possible annual increase rate.
When two options are similarly priced, I generally give more weight to the carrier's pricing history, discount structure, rating method, and the difficulty of changing plans later. Historical rates cannot tell you what will happen next, but they can help you compare the amount of uncertainty behind each quote.
Before making a decision, run Plan G, Plan N, and High-Deductible Plan G through the calculator.
Then compare the result with the benefits, cost-sharing, and underwriting considerations that the projection can't measure — see our guides on how Medigap rate increases work and Medigap pricing methods for more.
