Aetna Medigap Plans For 2022 – Comparing Plans A, B, F, G and N

Guide To Aetna Medigap Plans For 2022

Of the ten types of Medigap supplemental policies that are available, Aetna typically offers five in most states. Plans A, B, F, G and N were generally available as of 2021.

Aetna Medicare Supplement Plans (Medigap Plans) are standardized in all but three states (Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Minnesota), making it easier to compare rates among companies. Unless you live in one of those three states, which standardize their plans individually, you’ll find the same coverage under each Medigap letter plan from all companies that offer this coverage. Some companies may include extra benefits for added fees, such as gym memberships or dental and vision coverage. But generally, you’ll find the same coverage for supplemental Medicare benefits under each letter type. Note that plan availability varies based on where you live and other factors. In this analysis, we break out each individual 2022 Aetna Medigap Plan, and the various parts and the coverage provided under each one.

Note: Medicare enrollees new to Medicare as of January 1, 2020, are not eligible for Medigap Plan C or Plan F. But if you were eligible for Medicare before this date, you may still be able to enroll in one of these plans.

If you would like to speak with a reputable, licensed Medicare professional while reviewing this information, you can use our toll free number listed above, or simply use the form below. Please note that we respect your privacy and we take great effort to ensure that you have a pleasant experience when working with one of our Medicare professionals.

To see a detailed list of what Aetna Medigap Plans are available in your state, please see our Aetna Medigap Plans By State chart. Unless noted otherwise, the following information and estimates are based on research from 2020.

Aetna Medigap Plan A

Medigap Plan A provides basic added benefits for costs that aren’t covered by original Medicare (Parts A and B together). Original Medicare requires you to cover many out-of-pocket costs, such as copays for visiting a doctor. Plan A can alleviate the stress of paying for some of these services by giving you additional coverage.

Aetna Medigap Plan A covers:

Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure

Medicare Part A requires coinsurance of $389 per day for days 61 to 90 of any hospital stay during your plan term. If you multiply $389 times 30 days ($11,670), you can see why having Part A coinsurance coverage would be beneficial, especially if you know that you’ll be spending more time in a hospital ahead of time. Medigap Plan A covers the coinsurance rate. It also provides an additional 365 days of coverage once your original Medicare benefits end.

Aetna’s plan availability varies based on where you live, so we’ll use an example from a state that includes Plan A coverage. Let’s say we have a 67-year-old man living in Wayne County, Michigan. We’ll use his information to get rates for all plans, starting with Medigap Plan A. Aetna offers Plan A coverage for him for $1,619 per year. Divided by 12 months, that’s about $135 a month. Medigap policies are sold on an individual basis, which means his wife would buy her own plan. If she did, her monthly premium would be about $117, assuming she was also 67.

Note that Aetna offers “standard” and “premium” rates. If you sign up for a Medigap policy during your initial eligibility window or during open enrollment, you gain access to the premium rates, which are lower than the standard rates. We calculated our example using premium rates.

Aetna Medigap Plan B

Medigap Plan B offers the nearly the same coverage as Medigap Plan A. The difference is that Plan B covers the Medicare Part A deductible, giving it a slight edge over Plan A for those who need this coverage.

You’ll find the following benefits under Aetna Medigap Plan B:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible

In 2022, Medicare requires Part A subscribers to meet a deductible of $1,556 per term before hospital benefits will pay out. Medigap Plan A doesn’t cover this deductible, but Medigap Plan B does. It can be tough to come up with an extra thousand dollars before your benefits pay out, so having this coverage in place may mitigate the financial strain. Note that Plan B does not cover the Medicare Part B deductible.

You may not find Plan B in your area since availability for Medigap plans varies. Pricing would depend on your age, where you live and other factors, including your health if you enrolled outside of your initial eligibility window. For our 67-year-old man in Michigan, Medigap Plan B from Aetna would cost about $159 a month.

Aetna Medigap Plan C – Michigan Only

Aetna doesn’t offer Medigap Plan C policies anywhere but Michigan. But if you live in the Great Lakes State, then you could benefit from a plan that offers greater coverage than Plans A and B.

Aetna Medigap Plan C Coverage Includes:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• Medicare Part B deductible
• Foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits

Along with the coverage offered by Plans A and B, Medigap Plan C covers coinsurance for skilled nursing care facilities, the Medicare Part B deductible and foreign travel emergencies up to the plan limit. These additions make Plan C a good choice for people who need more medical care since they eliminate extra out-of-pocket costs. If you know that you’ll need more care – say you have a chronic medical condition or you need hip replacement surgery soon – then choosing a Medigap plan with more benefits, like Plan C, could be worth the extra monthly premium cost.

The annual deductible for Medicare Part B is $233 in 2022. This is the amount that you’ll need to spend out of pocket (aside from premiums) before Medicare picks up any portion of your medical bills. Medigap Plan C covers this deductible as well as the coinsurance rate for Part B (20 percent), which means you’ll pay less for your medical care out of pocket with a Plan C policy. This plan doesn’t cover Part B excess charges, which is the difference between what a provider charges and what Medicare deems acceptable. Only two Medigap policies, F and G, cover Part B excess charges. But if you see a doctor who accepts Medicare assignment, then you won’t have to worry about Part B excess charges anyway.

As with all Medigap policies from any company, plan availability and pricing vary based on your residence and personal demographics. Remember that Aetna only sells Plan C in Michigan. For the 67-year-old man who lives in Wayne County, an Aetna Medigap Plan C policy would cost about $203 a month.

Aetna Medigap Plan D

According to its website on Medicare supplemental plans, Aetna offers Medigap Plan D in some areas. However, we were unable to locate any Plan D policies listed among the plan overviews for the 14 states that Aetna serves.

Here’s a breakdown of what Aetna Medigap Plan D covers in standardized states:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• Foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits

Plan D covers everything that Plan C does, minus the Part B deductible. Since no information exists, online at least, for Aetna’s Plan D policies, we can’t offer an example for how much it might cost. If you’re interested in learning more about Aetna’s plan availability for your area, check with a Medicare specialist for your options.

Aetna Medigap Plan F

Medigap Plan F provides the most amount of coverage that you can buy among supplemental Medicare policies. If you buy a Plan F from Aetna, you’ll likely face no out-of-pocket costs other than the monthly premium that you pay for the plan itself.

Comprehensive coverage offered by Aetna Medigap Plan F includes:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• Medicare Part B deductible
• Foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits
• Medicare Part B excess charges

Plan F has just one more benefit than Plan C, but it’s a significant benefit. Plus, Aetna only offers Plan C in Michigan. With Plan F, you get all of the benefits currently offered by Medigap supplement plans combined, including the Medicare Part B excess charges. This can be a critical benefit for people who need a lot of medical care and whose doctors don’t accept Medicare assignment.

Medicare Part B excess charges refer to the cost that you might incur if your doctor doesn’t “accept assignment” – i.e., agree to the terms that Medicare lays out when it comes to payment for services. Under original Medicare, your medical services, everything from a trip to the doctor for a sore throat to knee surgery, come with an associated cost. Medicare determines ahead of time what it considers a fair price for these services. If your doctor accepts assignment, that mean she agrees to Medicare’s terms. As a patient, you’ll only be responsible for 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for covered services. Medicare Part B covers the other 80 percent.

As long as you see a doctor who accepts Medicare assignment, you won’t have to worry about Part B excess charges because there won’t be any. But the problem comes with providers who don’t agree to Medicare’s pricing structure. These doctors can charge a certain percentage above the Medicare-approved price, leaving you on the hook for the so-called excess charges. Along with the 20 percent coinsurance required of Part B, you’ll have to pay for anything that Medicare doesn’t cover, which can add up quickly.

You might think that avoiding doctors who don’t accept assignment would be the simple solution, and you might be right. Unfortunately, some people live in areas with limited options. You might also love a doctor who just doesn’t participate in a written contract with Medicare. If you use providers who don’t accept assignment, having the coverage for these excess charges can significantly help with your out-of-pocket medical spending, especially since Plan F also covers the Part B deductible and coinsurance charges as well.

As you might imagine, Plan F typically includes higher monthly premiums because it covers everything that a Medigap supplemental policy has to offer. But there’s another option available that could trim your monthly premium costs while allowing you to enjoy fuller coverage. It’s called a high-deductible Plan F, which Aetna also offers. The high-deductible Plan F requires enrollees to reach a deductible before benefits will pay out. In 2022, the deductible for these plans, which is set at the federal level, is $2,490.

Our 67-year-old Wayne County resident in Michigan would pay about $204 a month for standard Plan F coverage, only a dollar more than he’d pay for Plan C, which doesn’t cover Part B excess charges. If he switched to Aetna’s high-deductible Plan F option, his monthly premium would drop to about $82 a month.

Aetna Medigap Plan G

Medigap Plan G is a good alternative to Medigap Plan F for two reasons: It’s usually less expensive than Plan F, and Plan F has been eliminated at the federal level as of 2020, which means that this plan may become too expensive as fewer people sign up for it. Enter Medigap Plan G, a strong option because it’s essentially the same coverage, minus the Part B deductible.

Aetna Medigap Plan G Covers:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• Foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits
• Medicare Part B excess charges

If you can handle the $183 annual deductible for Medicare Part B but still want the benefit of having Part B excess charges covered, then Plan G is worth considering. Plans F and G are the only Medigap policies that cover Part B excess charges. For our Aetna customer in Wayne County, a Plan G would cost about $159 a month, which is $45 less than Plan F for almost identical coverage.

Aetna Medigap Plan N

Medigap Plan N is a lower-cost alternative to more comprehensive policies like G or F. It still provides a fair amount of benefits, but it may cost much less than other options.

With Aetna Medigap Plan N, you’ll find coverage for:

• Medicare Part A coinsurance and coverage for hospital benefits
• Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments – with a caveat
• Coinsurance or copayments for hospice care
• The first three pints of blood in a medical procedure
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Coinsurance for skilled nursing facility care
• Foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits

You might notice that Plan N closely resembles Plans D and G. But unlike Plan G, Medigap Plan N does not cover the Part B excess charges. There’s also an important caveat with Plan N coverage for Part B coinsurance. Under Plan N, you’ll still be responsible for certain copayment amounts: up to $20 for office visits, and $50 for emergency room visits that don’t result in hospitalization. The plan covers all other Part B coinsurance amounts. Pricing and availability for this plan option vary as they do with any Medigap plan. It would cost about $135 a month for our 67-year-old Michigan man to buy a Plan N policy from Aetna.

Closing Thoughts On Aetna Medigap Plans And Your Specific Needs In 2020

As the expression goes, the devil is in the details. This is one of the reasons why we are continually advising individuals who have any questions at all, to speak with a licensed Medicare professional. Asking for help in figuring out what is the best option for your specific needs, is not a bad thing, Medicare is incredibly confusing. 

You can use the form below to connect directly with a licensed Medicare professional who can answer any of the questions you might have. There is never any requirement to purchase anything and licensed Medicare professionals are kept to very strict standards for customer service and overall experience.