Plan G and Advantage, side by side

Medicare Plan G Cost 2026 & Medicare Advantage Plans in Florida

Two very different ways to cover what Original Medicare leaves behind, and the honest answer is that the right one depends on your doctors, your prescriptions and how you use care. I am Lourdes Hernandez, and I help people in Palm Beach and Broward counties sort through both without pressure.

Medicare Plan G Cost 2026 in Florida

The first thing to know is that there is no single price for Plan G in Florida, and anyone who quotes you a number before knowing your zip code and age is guessing. Carriers set Medigap premiums by rating area, so a 65-year-old in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Delray Beach can be quoted something different from a 65-year-old in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs or Sunrise, even though the plan letter and its benefits are exactly the same everywhere.

What I can tell you honestly is how to think about the number you receive. Plan G premiums in Florida generally run higher than the national average, because Florida claims costs run higher. They also tend to rise at each renewal, so the premium you sign up for in 2026 is a starting point, not a promise that stays put. When I run quotes for clients, I look at how much a carrier has raised its rates over the past few years, not just the premium on the screen today, because a low starting price that jumps every year ends up costing more than a steady one.

There is one more piece to budget for: Plan G does not include the Part B annual deductible. You pay that yourself each year, and everything after it is covered by the plan at 100% of the Medicare-approved amount. If you want the deductible covered too, that is what Plan F did, but Plan F is no longer sold to people who became Medicare-eligible after January 1, 2020.

If you would rather understand the full family of supplement letters before pricing one, I wrote a plain walkthrough on how Medicare Supplement plans work that covers what each letter picks up.

What Affects Medicare Plan G Florida Pricing

Three things move your Plan G quote more than anything else. The first is your zip code, because Florida is divided into rating areas and the counties around Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are priced differently from the Panhandle. The second is your age at the time you apply, and whether the carrier uses issue-age pricing (your age when you buy, locked in) or attained-age pricing (your premium rises as you get older). I always show clients which kind of pricing a carrier uses, because two identical premiums can age very differently.

The third is timing. Your Medigap open enrollment is the 6-month period that begins the month you turn 65 and enroll in Part B. During that window, insurance companies must sell you any plan they offer in your area, cannot turn you down for health reasons, and cannot charge more because of your medical history. Once it closes, applying for Plan G usually means medical underwriting, and a health condition can get an application declined or priced higher. That is why I encourage people to use the window even if they feel healthy: it is the one time the rules protect you.

Tobacco use can also affect the price with some carriers, and so can household discounts if more than one person on the policy applies together. None of these details change your benefits, but they change the premium, which is the part you will live with.

Medicare Advantage Plan Florida: How to Compare

Now the other side of the decision. A Medicare Advantage plan does not sit alongside Original Medicare; it replaces it. The plan bundles hospital, medical and usually drug coverage into one policy, often with a monthly premium of zero, and it manages your care through a network. In Palm Beach and Broward counties that usually means an HMO, where you pick a primary care doctor and need referrals for most specialists, or a PPO, which gives you more freedom at a higher cost.

When clients ask me which Advantage plan is the strongest one for them, I redirect the question, because the honest answer is that the strongest plan is the one that matches your life. I compare on five things, in this order: are your doctors and hospitals in the network; are your prescriptions covered and at what tier; what is the maximum out-of-pocket number; what do the copays look like for the care you actually use; and does the plan include the extras you would genuinely use, like dental or vision. A low premium stops mattering the first time you need an out-of-network hospital stay, so I always start with the doctors.

If you want to see how I put several carriers side by side for real people, there is more on finding a Medicare agent in your area, including why working with an independent agent does not cost you anything.

Medicare Advantage in Florida: What Plans Cover

By law, every Medicare Advantage plan must cover everything Original Medicare covers, hospital and medical, so the base coverage is not a differentiator. What varies is how it is delivered and what gets added on top. Most Florida plans include Part D drug coverage, and many add dental, vision, hearing, a fitness membership, a meal benefit after a hospital stay, or a transportation benefit to medical appointments. Some include a Part B giveback, which reduces your monthly Part B premium; it is a real benefit, but plans that offer it often trade it against other costs, so it has to be weighed in the full picture rather than on its own.

The part people in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach ask me about most is networks. Advantage plans in Florida change their provider lists every year, and a doctor who is in the network this December may not be in it next January. Before anyone signs anything, I check their specific doctors against the plan's current list and I tell them plainly if switching means losing someone. Coverage details matter too: prior authorizations, referral requirements and step therapy for certain drugs are where surprises hide.

Medicare Advantage Plans 2026 Florida Costs

For 2026, premiums, copays, deductibles and drug tiers all reset, and plans that looked affordable in 2025 can shift. What I can say without knowing your specific plan is how the pieces add up. Your monthly premium is only the entry fee; the number that protects you is the in-network maximum out-of-pocket, which caps what you can be asked to pay in a plan year for covered services. Two plans with the same premium can have very different caps, and that cap is often what saves a family from a disaster bill in a bad health year.

Zero-premium plans are common in Florida and they are legitimate options, but the premium is only one line. I ask clients to look at what a hospital stay, a knee replacement or a round of physical therapy would cost them under each plan they are considering, then compare that against the steady premium of a Plan G plus the Part B premium and a drug plan. For some people in Boca Raton or Coral Springs the supplement wins; for others the Advantage plan wins. I have seen both outcomes, and which one is right depends on health, income and temperament as much as on the numbers.

I keep a page where I put Medicare Advantage plans rated and cost-compared in Florida, including how the star system works and what to watch in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Medicare Advantage Plan Reviews and Ratings, 2026 and Into 2027

Medicare gives every Advantage and Part D plan a star rating from 1 to 5, based on measures like customer service, complaints, member experience, managing chronic conditions and drug safety. A plan rated 4 stars or higher is doing well by Medicare's own measures, and plans rated 5 stars in your county can be joined at any time of year, which is a useful flexibility. Ratings are published on Medicare.gov, and I check them for every plan I quote, but I will tell you what I tell clients: stars describe averages across thousands of members. They cannot tell you whether the plan covers your specific oncologist or your specific medication, which is why the ratings are one input and not the verdict.

Looking toward 2027, expect the same shape of changes Florida has seen for years: networks that get reviewed annually, drug tiers that move, and benefits that get trimmed or expanded as carriers compete for the same members. The steady advice is to treat every October as a fresh comparison rather than assuming last year's plan is still the right one. Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 through March 31, so you always have a window to fix a decision that is not working.

If you are turning 65 in 2026 and want a calm hour with someone who will lay out both routes, call me at (551) 223-3854 or send a message. I serve Palm Beach and Broward counties, I speak English and Spanish, se habla español, and there is no charge for my help.