Does Medicare Supplement Cover the Part B Deductible? 2027 Answer, Plan by Plan

Reviewed by Russell Noga, Licensed Medicare Insurance Broker (all 50 states) — Last updated October 27, 2026

The Part B deductible is the first slice of outpatient medical bills you pay each calendar year before Original Medicare starts paying its 80%. It’s small next to a hospital bill, but it’s the single line that separates the most complete Medigap plans from the rest, and it’s the reason Plan F disappeared for people turning 65 today.

Below: which plan letters pay it, the federal rule that closed them, what “first eligible” actually means, the deductible year by year since 2020, and the simple premium math that tells you whether paying it yourself is the better deal.

Of the ten standardized Medigap plan letters, only Plan C and Plan F pay the Part B deductible in full. High-Deductible Plan F treats it differently: the Part B deductible counts toward that plan’s own $3,050 deductible in 2027.

The catch is eligibility. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) barred the sale of any Medigap policy covering the Part B deductible to people newly eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020, which closed exactly those three plans.

Eligible before 2020? You may still buy one. Eligible in 2020 or later? No plan sold to you will pay it. All plan letters are compared in our guide to Medicare Supplement plans.

Benefits are standardized, so this holds for every insurer that sells the plan.

Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin use their own plan designs instead of these letters.

The rule turns on when you became eligible for Medicare, not when you enrolled. State regulators define a newly eligible person as someone who turned 65 on or after January 1, 2020, or first became eligible because of age, disability or end-stage renal disease on or after that date. In practice:

MACRA stopped new sales; it didn’t cancel anyone’s coverage. An existing Plan F or Plan C policy stays guaranteed renewable as long as premiums are paid, and the Part B deductible stays covered.

Keeping it is a pricing question. Plan F’s only extra over Plan G is the deductible, so the test is whether its premium costs more than that each year. See our Medicare Supplement Plan F cost guide; the switching steps are in our guide to switching from Plan F to Plan G.

Plan C holders face the same choice with Plan D, which matches Plan C on every benefit except the deductible.

Since the deductible is the only benefit gap between Plan F and Plan G, divide it by 12 to get the monthly premium difference at which the two cost the same.

Worked example (hypothetical round premiums): Plan F at $240 a month is $2,880 a year. Plan G at $190 a month is $2,280 plus the $283 deductible, or $2,563, so Plan G is $317 ahead. Shrink the gap to $20 a month and Plan F is $43 ahead. Real quotes depend on age, ZIP code, tobacco use and insurer.

CMS’s annual fact sheets show the deductible since the 2020 cutoff:

For newer enrollees, each increase raises the one cost Plan G leaves behind; see our Medicare Supplement Plan G guide.

The deductible applies only to Part B. Medicare pays nothing on Part B claims until your approved Part B charges for the calendar year reach it, and the count restarts each January 1.

Every plan letter except Plan A pays at least part of the Part A deductible. Only Medicare-approved amounts count toward the Part B deductible, so an excess charge isn’t part of it, though Plans F and G cover excess charges separately.

For anyone newly eligible since 2020, the choice is how to carry the deductible:

Still weighing a supplement against Medicare Advantage? Read Medigap vs Medicare Advantage.

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