Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plans in Queens, NY: The Complete 2026 Guide

THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE NEW YORK GIVES YOU: GUARANTEED ISSUE, YEAR-ROUND

In most states, you get one guaranteed window to buy a Medigap policy without medical underwriting — the 6 months starting when you’re 65 and enrolled in Part B. Miss it, and insurers can review your health history, charge you more, or deny you outright.

New York does it differently. State law requires community-rated, guaranteed-issue Medigap coverage on a continuous, year-round basis — meaning you generally cannot be denied a policy or charged more due to your health, regardless of when you apply. This is a genuine, meaningful protection that most of the country doesn’t have, and it’s worth knowing about even if you’re not shopping for Medigap today.

HOW MEDIGAP WORKS, IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Medigap plans are sold by private insurers but standardized by the federal government — a Plan G from one carrier covers the exact same benefits as a Plan G from another. The only real differences between carriers are price, customer service, and financial stability. Medigap works alongside Original Medicare (Parts A and B), picking up costs like coinsurance, copays, and deductibles that Original Medicare leaves you responsible for. It does not include prescription drug coverage — you’ll need a separate Part D plan — and it doesn’t include dental, vision, or hearing.

EVERY MEDIGAP PLAN LETTER, WHAT IT COVERS

New York offers 10 standardized Medigap plan types available to new enrollees, plus legacy Plans C and F for those who qualify. Since 2020, Plans C and F are closed to anyone newly eligible for Medicare — if you turned 65 or became Medicare-eligible on or after January 1, 2020, these two are off the table, though existing enrollees can keep them.

Plan G is the most comprehensive option available to anyone newly eligible for Medicare today — it covers everything except the Part B deductible ($283 in 2026). High Deductible Plan G (labeled G+ on New York’s rate tables) offers identical coverage after you meet a higher annual deductible, in exchange for a dramatically lower monthly premium. Plan N trades small, predictable copays (up to $20 for office visits, up to $50 for ER visits that don’t result in admission) for a lower monthly premium than Plan G.

REAL 2026 RATES FOR QUEENS, DIRECT FROM NEW YORK STATE

These rates come directly from the New York Department of Financial Services’ official rate filing, effective February 1, 2026, for the “NYC Proper” region — which covers Queens’ ZIP codes (111xx through 114xx) along with Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. These are the actual, government-published, effective rates — not estimates.

Plan G (most comprehensive option for new enrollees):

High Deductible Plan G (same coverage, higher deductible, lower premium):

Plan N (lower premium, small copays):

A pattern worth noticing immediately: on Plan G alone, the gap between the cheapest carrier (UnitedHealthcare at $372.50) and the most expensive (Bankers Conseco at $840.28) is more than double — for identical, federally standardized coverage. This is exactly why comparing carriers matters as much as comparing plan letters.

*Aetna’s rates above reflect current pricing for its existing New York policyholders. Aetna is not currently accepting new Medigap applicants in New York — see the carrier notes below.

PLAN G vs. HIGH DEDUCTIBLE PLAN G: THE REAL MATH

Plan G is the most comprehensive Medigap option available to new enrollees — and also the most expensive. High Deductible Plan G (HDG) is identical coverage after you meet a $2,950 annual deductible (2026 figure), for a dramatically lower premium. The question worth answering with real numbers: does HDG actually save you money, or just shift the risk?

Using the cheapest available rate in each category (UnitedHealthcare for Plan G, EmblemHealth for HDG)

Here’s the finding worth sitting with: even in the worst-case scenario, where you fully spend down the $2,950 HD deductible, High Deductible Plan G still costs about $991 less per year than standard Plan G. In a healthy year, the gap is even bigger — HDG could cost roughly $3,900 less. Plan G’s premium is high enough that you’re effectively pre-paying for comprehensive coverage whether you use it or not; HDG only asks you to pay if you actually need the care.

This holds even when comparing the same carrier head-to-head. Humana’s Plan G runs about $8,050/year fixed; Humana’s HDG tops out around $4,284/year even in a bad year — a difference of roughly $3,766, from the same company, for coverage that becomes identical once you hit the deductible.

The trade-off is genuinely about comfort with uncertainty, not really about total cost: if you’re financially comfortable potentially paying up to $2,950 out of pocket before full coverage kicks in, HDG is very likely to save you money most years. If you’d rather never think about a bill regardless of what happens, standard Plan G’s higher fixed cost is what you’re paying to eliminate that variability entirely.

WHY RATE INCREASES HIT SOME PLANS HARDER THAN OTHERS

All Medigap plans see periodic rate increases, but they aren’t distributed evenly across plan letters — and there’s a structural reason for that. Plans with the least cost-sharing, like Plan F (for those who still have it) and standard Plan G, tend to attract higher-utilization enrollees, since people who expect to need more care are naturally drawn to the plans that leave them owing the least. That skews the risk pool for those plans toward higher claims costs over time, which shows up as steeper rate increases at renewal. Plans with more cost-sharing built in — Plan N, or High Deductible Plan G — tend to attract a comparatively healthier or more cost-conscious risk pool, which can mean more moderate increases over time. This isn’t a guarantee for any specific year or carrier, but it’s a real dynamic worth factoring in if predictable long-term costs matter as much to you as this year’s premium.

CARRIER-SPECIFIC NOTES WORTH KNOWING

A few things about specific carriers in the tables above are worth understanding beyond the rate itself:

Aetna is not currently accepting new Medigap applicants in New York. Its rate still appears on the state’s official filing above, and that’s expected, not a contradiction — New York’s community-rating rules require carriers to keep publishing current rates for their existing policyholders even after closing to new business. If you’re shopping for a new policy today, Aetna’s Plan G, F, and N rates in the table reflect what current Aetna Medigap members pay, not an option you can actually enroll in as a new applicant. Existing Aetna Medigap policyholders are unaffected and keep their coverage as normal.

Transamerica’s plans are typically association-based. In New York, Transamerica’s Medigap products are commonly marketed through specific professional or membership organizations — for example, plans underwritten for physicians through the American Medical Association — rather than sold broadly to any Medicare beneficiary the way UnitedHealthcare’s AARP-branded plans are. If you’re not affiliated with the relevant group, that specific product line may not be accessible to you even though the rate appears on the state’s public filing.

EmblemHealth’s financial strength rating has been weak, though it’s currently improving. AM Best rated EmblemHealth’s insurance subsidiaries “C (Weak)” for an extended period, and as of July 2026, upgraded that rating to “C+ (Marginal)” with a positive outlook, citing improved capital position and five consecutive quarters of positive earnings. It’s a real improvement, but still below investment-grade territory — worth knowing if a carrier’s long-term financial stability factors into your decision. EmblemHealth also sells exclusively through brokers and field marketing organizations rather than a direct company sales force, so you’ll always be working through an independent agent to enroll.


A note on how we know this: Aetna’s and Transamerica’s enrollment restrictions above reflect current New York Medicare market conditions as of this writing, based on active agent-level access rather than a public carrier announcement — this kind of detail often isn’t published anywhere consumer-facing. Availability can change; confirm directly with a licensed agent before assuming any carrier is open or closed to new applicants.

WHAT NEW YORKERS ACTUALLY CHOOSE — AND WHO SELLS IT TO THEM

Statewide, more than 465,000 New Yorkers have Medigap coverage. Plan preference and carrier concentration both show clear patterns:

By plan letter:

By carrier — New York’s Medigap market is heavily concentrated:

UnitedHealthcare’s dominance here is worth understanding, not just noting. New York’s guaranteed-issue, community-rated rules mean every carrier has to accept every applicant at the same rate regardless of health — a real consumer protection, but one that also limits smaller carriers’ ability to price-compete the way they might in other states. UnitedHealthcare’s scale lets it consistently offer the most competitive rates, which is a meaningful part of why it holds over four out of every five Medigap policies in the state.

MEDICARE ADVANTAGE VS. MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT: THE CORE TRADE-OFF

If you’ve been following the active UnitedHealthcare/NewYork-Presbyterian contract situation affecting Queens Medicare Advantage members, or the standing gap where Mount Sinai isn’t accepting new Healthfirst patients, this table shows exactly why Medigap appeals to people who want to remove that kind of network risk entirely.

For the full cost-by-cost breakdown of what a healthy year versus a bad year actually costs under each option, see Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap in Queens, NY: The Real 2026 Cost Comparison.

HOW TO ENROLL

Step 1: Enroll in Original Medicare (Parts A and B), typically around age 65 through the Social Security Administration.

Step 2: Compare Medigap plans and carriers using the rates above as a starting point, keeping in mind that identical coverage can vary enormously in price between carriers.

Step 3: Apply. Thanks to New York’s guaranteed-issue rule, you’re not limited to a single 6-month window the way most states require — you have meaningfully more flexibility in when you enroll.

Remember: Medigap doesn’t include drug coverage, so you’ll want to pair it with a standalone Part D plan to avoid the late enrollment penalty.

PAUL’S HONEST TAKE

The rate spread on this page is the single most important thing to take away. Two people can buy the exact same Plan G coverage in Queens and pay $372.50 or $840.28 a month for it, depending only on which carrier they picked. That’s not a small difference — it’s over $5,600 a year for identical federally standardized benefits. I never recommend a carrier based on brand recognition alone; I check the actual current rate for your specific situation, because with Medigap, the plan letter determines your coverage, but the carrier determines your price. It’s also worth sitting with the fact that one carrier holds more than four out of every five Medigap policies in this state — that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since UnitedHealthcare’s rate is also usually the cheapest, but it does mean real price competition among the smaller carriers is thin, and it’s part of why New York’s Medigap premiums keep climbing.