Medicare Supplement Rate Increases by Company: Who Raised Rates the Most in 2026 — and What That Means for You

By Paul Barrett, Principal Agent, The Modern Medicare Agency | Updated June 2026

If your Medicare Supplement premium went up significantly this year, you are not imagining it — and you are not alone.

In early 2026, rate increase filings from the six largest Medigap carriers ranged from just over 12% to more than 26% for Plan G policies, according to Telos Actuarial, an independent Nebraska-based actuarial firm that tracks Medigap rate filings nationwide. In some markets and with some carriers, the increases ran considerably higher. One insurer — Chubb — imposed a 45% increase on some policyholders last year, effective immediately and not staggered by anniversary date, according to a CBS News/KFF Health News report from April 2026. In Alaska, one carrier filed an increase of 55.6%.

To put that in context: five years ago, a 3% to 5% annual increase was typical. A 7% to 8% increase was considered elevated. Anything above 10% was unusual enough to raise eyebrows. As one industry executive told KFF Health News, “Five years ago, it was exceedingly uncommon to have a carrier with a rate increase of more than 10%. Now it’s very uncommon to see a rate increase below 10%, and it’s not uncommon to see it over 20%.”

This article is going to give you the full picture: what’s driving these increases, which companies have raised rates the most, what’s happening specifically in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California — and what your options are right now.

First, the one thing you need to understand about Medigap benefits

Before we get into the numbers, this matters: every Plan G from every carrier covers the exact same services. Federal law standardizes Medigap benefits by letter. A Plan G from UnitedHealthcare provides identical medical coverage to a Plan G from Mutual of Omaha, Aetna, or any other carrier. Medicare.gov confirms this directly: “The benefits in each lettered plan are the same, no matter which insurance company sells it.”

That means when two carriers charge you $200/month apart for the same Plan G, you are not getting more coverage from the expensive one. You are paying more for the same thing. And when your carrier raises rates by 20%, your only logical response is to ask whether you can get identical coverage somewhere else for less — which is exactly what this guide will help you think through.

What is actually driving these increases?

Three forces are converging at the same time, and understanding them helps you evaluate whether increases are likely to continue.

Healthcare utilization has surged post-pandemic. Medicare beneficiaries deferred care during 2020 and 2021, and that deferred care is now being delivered — with compounding interest. Claims per enrollee have increased faster than most carriers modeled, and those higher loss ratios are being passed directly to policyholders through premium increases. As Premera Blue Cross’s spokesperson explained in the CBS/KFF report, “higher medical service use among its members… further drove claims costs and ultimately impacted premiums.”

Medical inflation is running above historical norms. Healthcare costs are climbing approximately 5% to 6% per year at the service level, with spending per Medicare person rising 6.1% in a single recent year. Labor costs, facility costs, imaging, and drug costs all feed into what a Medigap policy actually has to cover. Every dollar Medicare doesn’t pay for a covered service, Plan G picks up — which means when hospital costs rise, so does Plan G’s claims exposure.

Carriers priced aggressively and are now correcting. Some insurers spent several years using low “teaser” premiums to attract new enrollees — then raised rates sharply once those policyholders were locked in (either by health status that makes switching difficult, or simply by inertia). Brett Mushett, consulting actuary with Telos Actuarial, described the 2026 filings as “carriers looking to correct their premium rates in light of upward pressure on their claims experience.” In other words: they underpriced the risk, and now you are paying for the correction.

A fourth, state-specific factor applies in New York, Connecticut, and a handful of other states: guaranteed issue requirements mean carriers must accept all applicants regardless of health status. This protects consumers (and is genuinely valuable), but it also means carriers in these states carry a higher-risk pool than carriers in states that can underwrite away sick applicants. That structural risk gets priced into the premium for everyone.

Which carriers raised rates the most?

Here is what the publicly available filing data and independent actuarial reporting shows, stated as accurately as possible. Because Medigap rate filings vary by state, and carriers file increases at different times throughout the year, no single table captures every market. What follows represents the clearest picture available from Telos Actuarial data, state insurance filings, and verified reporting.

UnitedHealthcare (AARP-branded)

UHC is the largest Medigap carrier in the country by enrollment. Their rate activity in 2026 has been significant across multiple markets. Confirmed state-specific increases for Plan G include:

• New York: +17.8% (the largest single-year NY DFS-approved increase in recent memory; UHC remains the lowest-priced Plan G carrier in New York despite the increase)
• Texas: +15.1% (effective July 2025, per state filing data)
• Illinois, North Dakota, Ohio: +12.6%

UHC’s size is worth understanding as context. When a carrier with millions of Medigap enrollees files double-digit increases, the financial impact is enormous — not just on premiums, but on the pool of policyholders who find the new rate unaffordable and lapse coverage. Those lapses tend to leave healthier people exiting the pool, which can pressure future rates further.

A critical nuance on how UHC prices its plans — and why it matters: UHC does not use the same pricing model in every state, and this affects how rate increases hit you over time. According to MoneyGeek’s 2026 UHC review:

• 43 states: Community pricing — premiums do not increase as you age, only with general rate filings. This is UHC’s most common model and one of its most-advertised advantages.
• Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Hampshire: Issue-age pricing — your rate is locked to the age you enrolled and rises only with general rate increases, not your birthday.
• Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon: Attained-age pricing — premiums increase both as you age AND with general rate filings simultaneously.

If you are in one of the eight non-community-rated states, the age-stability advantage UHC markets heavily does not apply to you. A 17.8% general rate increase hits you in addition to any age-based increase — not instead of it. Always confirm which pricing model your specific state uses before enrolling with any carrier.

Source: paulbinsurance.com/major-medicare-changes-coming-in-2026; Telos Actuarial Q1 2026 data; NY DFS rate filings; MoneyGeek UHC Medicare Supplement Review 2026

Aetna

Aetna has been among the most aggressive with rate corrections in 2025 and 2026. Telos Actuarial’s data shows Aetna took significant steps to address rising claims trends in 2024, meaning their current rate actions reflect ongoing correction after years of elevated claims experience.

Confirmed state-specific increases include:

• Kentucky: +14.3%
• Maryland and Pennsylvania: +15.8%
• South Dakota: +19%
• New Jersey (2025 filing): One NJ policyholder on the Bogleheads financial forum reported a Plan G premium increase from $276/month to $380/month in 2025 — a 38% increase in a single year for a 73-year-old enrollee

Source: paulbinsurance.com rate tracking; Bogleheads forum firsthand policyholder reports

Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha filed increases that also drew attention:

• Texas: +21.6% (effective June 2025)

Mutual of Omaha generally carries a strong reputation for stability and customer service, and their rate increases reflect the same industry-wide claims pressure rather than company-specific financial distress. However, 21.6% in a single state in a single year is material for any fixed-income retiree.

Source: paulbinsurance.com rate tracking data; CSG Actuarial filings

Anthem Blue Cross (California specifically)

California’s Anthem Blue Cross rate activity has been among the most striking nationally. SERFF (System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing) data from California shows:

• Most major Plan G insurers in California received at least 20% increases in recent filings
• Physicians Mutual: +25%
• HealthSpring (formerly Cigna): +20% in 2025; currently requesting +30% more
• AARP/UHC: +14.9% (the lowest among major California filers)

The most dramatic documented case: one 83-year-old Los Angeles woman reported on the Bogleheads investor forum that her Anthem Blue Cross Plan G premium increased from $213.17/month in 2025 to $425.95/month effective March 2026 — an increase of nearly 100% in a single year. This represents an extreme case of the “attained-age” pricing problem (premiums rising both with age and with general rate increases simultaneously) and the “closed block” problem (a legacy policy block that is no longer being actively marketed, resulting in an aging, sicker risk pool driving claims higher).

Source: Bogleheads.org forum, February 2026; California SERFF rate filings

Chubb

Chubb is not a household name in Medigap, but their 2025 rate action made national news. More than 80 clients of Illinois broker John Jaggi — a 49-year veteran of the industry — received a 45% premium increase effective immediately, not staggered by policy anniversary date, which Jaggi described as unprecedented in his career. This is the closed-block problem in acute form: a smaller insurer with an aging, concentrated risk pool facing actuarial reality all at once. The CBS/KFF report confirmed Chubb did not respond to requests for comment.

Source: CBS News/KFF Health News, April 22, 2026

Asuris Northwest Health (Alaska)

Not a national carrier, but worth noting as an extreme example: Asuris filed a 55.6% increase in Alaska in early 2026 — one of the largest single-carrier rate actions documented nationally. This illustrates how severe claims correction can become in concentrated, geographically limited markets where carriers have limited ability to spread risk across a larger population.

Source: paulbinsurance.com rate tracking; Alaska insurance filings

State-by-state spotlight: NY, NJ, CT, CA

New York

New York is unique in the Medigap market for two reasons that work in opposite directions for consumers.

The protection: New York requires community-rated pricing and year-round guaranteed issue for Medigap. Everyone in New York pays the same premium for the same plan regardless of age or health status, and you can switch carriers any time without medical underwriting. This is genuinely rare — only four states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and New York) require insurers to offer Medigap to all applicants year-round or during an annual enrollment period regardless of health.

The challenge: Because carriers must accept everyone in New York at any time, the risk pool in NY carries a higher proportion of people who enrolled later in life or with existing health conditions. That structural risk means New York premiums are consistently among the highest in the country. According to MoneyGeek’s 2026 state-by-state analysis, New York averages $354/month for Plan G — the most expensive state in the country.

And then the rate increases arrive on top of already-elevated premiums. UHC’s 17.8% increase in New York in 2026 is approved by the NY Department of Financial Services and is the single largest UHC NY rate action in recent memory. One couple on the Bogleheads forum reported their NY Plan G premium went up $45 each, bringing their individual rates to $370/month.

The good news for NY policyholders: Because guaranteed issue is year-round, if your rate just went up, you can shop competing carriers right now — no medical questions, no underwriting, no lock-in. The question is whether there is a meaningfully cheaper alternative. As of June 2026, UHC remains the lowest-priced Plan G carrier in New York. That’s cold comfort for someone absorbing a 17.8% increase, but it tells you something important: this is a market-wide problem in NY, not a UHC-specific one.

Current NY premium comparison tables (updated June 1, 2026): NY Department of Financial Services

New Jersey

New Jersey does not have community-rated pricing statewide the way New York does, but it does have guaranteed issue protections that go beyond federal minimums. NJ policyholders can apply for a new Medigap plan throughout the year — the same flexibility New York offers — without being restricted to an annual open enrollment window.

The rate picture in NJ has been severe. Licensed NJ Medicare advisors from NJ Life and Health report that 15%, 20%, or even 25% premium increases over the past year are common among their Medigap clients in the state, based on their 2026 NJ Medicare guide.

The most striking NJ data point: a 73-year-old NJ Aetna Plan G policyholder reported their monthly premium increased from $276 to $380 in 2025 — a 38% jump in a single year. According to Policy65’s 2026 state cost comparison, New Jersey consistently trends higher than the national benchmark, driven by dense population, high medical costs, and the same guaranteed-issue pool dynamics as New York.

For NJ residents: because you can apply year-round, the right move when a rate increase hits is to get an independent broker to pull competing quotes immediately. Same plan, same coverage, potentially meaningfully lower price.

Connecticut

Connecticut, like New York, uses community-rated pricing — premiums don’t increase with age, only with general rate filings. That means a 65-year-old and a 75-year-old pay the same base rate. Connecticut also has guaranteed-issue protections beyond federal minimums.

According to MoneyGeek’s 2026 state data, Connecticut averages $175-$220/month for Plan G — among the highest nationally, driven by high cost of living, high healthcare costs, and the same community-rating / open-pool dynamics as New York.

The same market-wide rate pressure hitting New York is hitting Connecticut. The difference is Connecticut has fewer competing carriers than New York, which limits the shopping options when a rate increase arrives. Community rating provides age protection, but it doesn’t protect against across-the-board carrier rate corrections.

Policy65’s analysis confirms that Connecticut’s regulatory environment (community pricing, continuous open enrollment) results in higher premiums but a flatter long-run trajectory than attained-age states — meaning CT residents start higher but don’t see their rates compound with age the way someone in Florida or Texas does.

California

California does not use community-rated pricing — premiums increase with age, meaning the full force of both age-based increases and general rate increases hits simultaneously. This is what produced the Anthem Blue Cross case cited above, where an 83-year-old saw her premium nearly double in a single year.

California does have a meaningful consumer protection: the Birthday Rule, which gives every Medigap enrollee a 60-day window starting on their birthday to switch to a plan of equal or lesser benefits without medical underwriting. This is one of the most valuable Medigap consumer protections in the country for people already enrolled in a supplement plan.

The Birthday Rule does not let you move from Medicare Advantage into a Medigap plan without underwriting. But if you are already in a Medigap plan and your rate just jumped, the Birthday Rule is your escape hatch — and in California’s current rate environment, using it is no longer optional, it is essential.

According to California SERFF filings tracked on the Bogleheads forum, most major Plan G carriers in California received at least 20% rate increases in recent filings. AARP/UHC at 14.9% was the lowest among major filers. HealthSpring (formerly Cigna) received 20% last year and is currently requesting another 30%. These increases are in addition to age-based premium growth, which means older California Medigap enrollees are facing compounding pressure from two directions simultaneously.

For California residents: the Birthday Rule is your most important tool right now. Know your birthday window, and use it to compare rates across carriers. A licensed independent broker can run that comparison in minutes.

The historical trajectory: how we got here

To understand 2026, it helps to see where we started. Using Telos Actuarial data for the six largest carriers:

Source: Telos Actuarial 2026 Q1 data via CBS News/KFF Health News; medicaresupp.org rate tracking

The direction is unmistakable. What was unusual in 2022 (a 12% increase) has become standard in 2026. What was extreme in 2022 (20%+) is now routine for several major carriers. And the outlier cases — 45%, 55.6%, near-100% — represent the most acute end of a trend that is broad-based across the industry.

The three pricing models — and why they matter more than the starting premium

One of the most important things consumers get wrong when choosing a Medigap plan is focusing on the starting premium rather than the pricing model and rate increase history. As Ken Clark, President of KLC Actuarial, LLC, put it: “One of the most important considerations when first enrolling in a Medicare Supplement policy is both the company history of past rate increases and ‘closing’ plans from future sales.”

Attained-age pricing (most states, most carriers): Your premium increases as you get older AND with general rate filings. Starting low doesn’t stay low. This is the pricing model that produced the California Anthem case — where an 83-year-old saw age-based increases compound on top of a steep general rate filing simultaneously.

Issue-age pricing: Your premium is set based on your age when you first buy and increases only with general rate filings — not with your age. More stable over time. UHC uses this model in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and New Hampshire.

Community-rated pricing (New York, Connecticut, and a handful of others — plus UHC in 43 states): Everyone pays the same regardless of age. Increases come from general rate filings only — not from aging. Higher starting points but flatter long-run trajectory. This is why a 17.8% general rate increase in New York hits everyone in the pool the same way, regardless of whether you enrolled at 65 or 80.

One important real-world nuance: UHC uses different pricing models in different states. They use community pricing in 43 states, issue-age in 5 states, and attained-age in 3 states (Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon). This is not widely advertised. If you are in one of the attained-age states, UHC’s rate increases compound with your age just like any other attained-age carrier — the community pricing advantage disappears entirely. Always verify which model applies in your state.

In any pricing model, the carrier’s history of annual rate filings matters enormously. A carrier that has consistently raised rates 5% per year for a decade is a better long-term bet than one that offered a teaser rate for two years and then corrected sharply.

Ask any broker you work with for a 5-year rate increase history for every carrier they recommend. A good independent broker will provide this without hesitation. If they can’t or won’t, that tells you something.

What you can do right now

If your rate just increased:

1. Determine your state’s switching rules before you do anything else. Are you in a guaranteed-issue state (NY, NJ, CT, MA)? Do you have a birthday rule window coming up (CA and 15 other states)? Are you within 12 months of first enrolling in Medicare? The answer changes what’s available to you.
   
   
2. Get a side-by-side comparison from an independent broker. Because Plan G is standardized, the only variable is price and the carrier’s rate-increase history. An independent broker who represents 40+ carriers can show you exactly what competing options look like in your ZIP code — including rate histories — in about 15 minutes. This costs you nothing.
   
   
3. Consider High-Deductible Plan G. HD Plan G provides the same ultimate coverage as standard Plan G but requires meeting a deductible first ($2,950 in 2026) before coverage kicks in. In exchange, the premium is dramatically lower — often $50 to $90/month depending on state and carrier versus $180+ for standard Plan G. For someone in generally good health, this can represent meaningful annual savings even accounting for the deductible.
   
   
4. Don’t lapse coverage while you’re deciding. The worst outcome is going without coverage because you’re waiting to figure out your options. Your current plan stays active until you actively replace it.
   
   

If you haven’t enrolled yet:

The decisions you make during your initial 6-month Medigap open enrollment window — starting the first month you have Part B and are age 65 or older — are the most important Medicare decisions you’ll make. During that window, no carrier can deny you or charge you more based on health. After it closes, in most states, they can. Starting with the right carrier and the right pricing model matters far more than saving $10/month on your first year’s premium.

A note on Paul’s approach to this topic

I recommend High-Deductible Plan G to a significant number of my clients when the math makes sense — even though it pays a lower commission than standard Plan G. When the right answer for the client is the cheaper product, that’s the recommendation I make. That philosophy is the same one behind this article: the most useful thing I can give you is accurate information, not information designed to sell you something.

If your rate went up this year and you want to know whether there’s a better option in your state, I’m happy to look at it with you. No cost, no pressure, and if the answer is “your current carrier is actually still the best deal,” I’ll tell you that too.

Sources and Further Reading

• Telos Actuarial Q1 2026 Medigap Rate Filing Data
• CBS News / KFF Health News: “Medigap Premiums Leap, and Consumers Have Few Alternatives” (April 22, 2026)
• MedicareSupp.org: Medigap Rate Increases in 2026
• Medicare.gov: Medigap Costs
• NY Department of Financial Services: Medicare Supplement Premium Comparison Tables (Updated June 1, 2026)
• MoneyGeek: Medicare Supplement Plans Cost by State (2026)
• Policy65: Plan G Cost by State (2026)
• MedicareResources.org: The Birthday Rule — A Gift to Medigap Enrollees? (April 2026)
• NJ Life and Health: 2026 NJ Medicare AEP Guide
• Bogleheads.org Forum: Medigap 2026 Premium Increases (February 2026)
• KFF: A Snapshot of Sources of Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries

Paul Barrett is the founder and Principal Agent of The Modern Medicare Agency. He has worked exclusively in Medicare for 18+ years, holds licenses in 34 states, and represents 40+ carriers. He is the author of Medicare Mastery Unlocked and hosts the Insurance Wise Guys Podcast.

Have questions about your specific situation? Contact Paul at (631) 358-5793 or medicare@paulbinsurance.com, or visit paulbinsurance.com.

This article is for educational purposes only. Premium data reflects publicly available rate filings, independent actuarial data, and verified consumer reports. Actual premiums vary by state, ZIP code, age, gender, tobacco status, and carrier. Verify current rates directly with carriers or through a licensed independent broker.