Medigap Plan N Explained: Lower Premium, Small Copays

Medigap Plan N is a Medicare Supplement policy with some of the lowest premiums among the fuller plans, because you share a little more of the cost. It pays the Part A hospital deductible and most of your Part B coinsurance, but you pay the yearly Part B deductible ($283 in 2026), up to $20 for some office visits, up to $50 for an emergency room visit that does not lead to an inpatient admission, and any Part B excess charges. For people who see the doctor a few times a year and use doctors who accept Medicare assignment, Plan N can cost less over a year than Plan G. This guide shows exactly what you pay, what New Jersey companies charged for Plan N at 65, and how many copays it takes to use up the savings.

The short answer

Plan N is one of the standardized Medigap letters, so its benefits are identical whichever insurer issues it. The hospital side is fully covered. The trade is on the doctor side: Plan N asks you to chip in a small copay at some office visits and at the emergency room, and it does not pick up Part B excess charges. In exchange, its monthly premium usually runs well below Plan G from the same company.

There is still no network. Any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare will take it, with no referrals.

What Plan N pays in full

• The Part A deductible: $1,736 for each benefit period in 2026 (CMS).
• Part A coinsurance and hospital costs for up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits are used up.
• Part B coinsurance, except the office visit and emergency room copays described below.
• Skilled nursing facility coinsurance: $217 a day for days 21 to 100 in 2026 (CMS).
• Part A hospice coinsurance, the first three pints of blood, and 80% of a foreign travel emergency up to plan limits.

What you pay with Plan N

Source: 2026 Medicare Parts A and B premiums and deductibles.

Excess charges, explained

Doctors who accept Medicare assignment agree to take the Medicare-approved amount as full payment. A doctor who does not accept assignment can bill up to 15% more than that amount. That extra is a Part B excess charge, and it is the gap people most often overlook with Plan N.

In practice, you can usually sidestep it by asking each office one question before an appointment: do you accept Medicare assignment? If every clinician you use says yes, the excess charge gap rarely matters. Where it can surprise you is a specialist you are referred to in a hurry, an anesthesiologist or an out-of-state surgeon you did not choose yourself.

What Plan N cost in New Jersey at 65

The New Jersey Division of Aging Services chart revised June 2, 2026 lists the monthly preferred Plan N rate at age 65 from 20 companies. It also lets you see, company by company, how far below that same company's Plan G rate its Plan N sits.

Source: New Jersey Medicare Supplement (Medigap) monthly premiums at age 65, female, preferred rates (revised June 2, 2026).

How many copays does it take to use up the savings?

Both plans leave you the $283 Part B deductible, so it cancels out. What is left is the premium gap against Plan N's copays. At the median gap for a 65-year-old woman on that chart, $52.22 a month, Plan N saves $626.64 a year. At up to $20 per office copay, you would need more than 31 copay visits in a year before Plan G came out ahead. For a man at the median gap of $60.07, the yearly saving is $720.84, or 36 copay visits.

The margin is thinner at a company where the gap is small. At the smallest gap on the women's chart, $27.52 a month or $330.24 a year, about 17 office copays, or a handful of emergency room trips at up to $50 each, would erase it. That is why Jackie compares Plan G and Plan N from the same company, using your own visit history from last year, rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Who Plan N tends to suit

• People in reasonably good health who see the doctor a handful of times a year.
• People whose doctors all accept Medicare assignment, so excess charges do not arise.
• People who prefer a lower monthly premium and are comfortable with small, predictable copays.
• People who still want the big protections: the Part A deductible, hospital coinsurance and skilled nursing coinsurance all paid in full.

Moving from Plan N to Plan G later

Buy during your six-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period if you can. It starts the first day of the month you are 65 or older and signed up for Part B (Medicare.gov). In it, no company can turn you down or charge more for your health.

The one real risk of starting with Plan N is the exit. New Jersey has no birthday rule (NAIC state chart, May 11, 2026), so if your health changes and you later want Plan G's fuller coverage, the insurer can ask medical questions and the upgrade is not guaranteed. Jackie walks through that trade with you before you choose.

What Jackie checks for you

• Whether each of your doctors accepts Medicare assignment.
• How many office and emergency visits you had last year, to estimate your Plan N copays.
• Plan N and Plan G premiums from the companies she is appointed with for your ZIP code, age and sex, so the yearly difference is real numbers.
• What it would take to move to Plan G later if your health changes.
• A Part D plan for your prescriptions, since Medigap does not include drug coverage.

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The bottom line

Plan N keeps the big protections of a supplement and trades a lower premium for small copays and excess charge exposure. On the June 2026 New Jersey chart, the median company charged a 65-year-old woman about $52 a month less for N than for its own G, which takes more than 31 office copays a year to use up. Check that your doctors accept assignment and buy during your six-month window. Jackie can run the numbers for you at no cost: (856) 727-4221.