Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policies can’t work with Medicare Advantage Plans.

If you have a Medigap policy and join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you may want to drop your Medigap policy. Your Medigap policy can’t be used to pay your Medicare Advantage Plan copayments, deductibles, and premiums. In certain circumstances, you may have special rights under federal law known as Medigap Trial Rights to purchase a Medigap policy and a Medicare drug plan in conjunction with a Medicare Advantage Plan disenrollment.

If you joined a Medicare Advantage Plan or Program of All‐inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) when you were first eligible for Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) at 65, and within the first 12 months of joining, you decide you want to switch to Original Medicare. You have the right to buy any Medigap policy that’s sold in your state by any insurance company.

If you dropped a Medigap policy to join a Medicare Advantage Plan for the first time, and within 12 months of joining, you decide you want to switch to Original Medicare. You have the right to buy the Medigap policy you had before you joined the Medicare Advantage Plan, if the same insurance company you had before still sells it.

If your former Medigap policy isn’t available, you can buy certain Medigap plans that are sold in your state by any insurance company.

The Medigap policy can’t have drug coverage even if you had it before, but you may be able to join a Medicare drug plan. You can buy a Medigap policy anytime a plan will sell you one, but you may have to pay more for your new policy and answer some medical questions if you’re buying a Medigap policy outside of your Medigap Open Enrollment Period (OEP) or don’t have a guaranteed issue right.

For more information about Medigap policies, view “Choosing a Medigap Policy: A Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare” (CMS Product No. 02110) by visiting Medicare.gov/publications.