Original Medicare leaves real gaps — deductibles, coinsurance, and no cap on what you can spend in a bad year. We sit down with your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget, and narrow the market down to the two or three options that genuinely fit.
Your options
Parts A and B are the foundation. Everything below is a different way of covering what they don't.
Medicare Supplement (Medigap)
Pairs with Original Medicare and picks up the deductibles and coinsurance it leaves you holding. Keep any doctor who accepts Medicare, no networks and no referrals. Higher monthly premium, far fewer surprises at the point of care.
Best for: people who travel, see specialists across systems, or simply want predictable costs.
Medicare Advantage (Part C)
An all-in-one alternative run by a private carrier, often bundling drug coverage plus extras like dental, vision, hearing or fitness. Low or $0 premiums are common — the trade-off is a provider network and an out-of-pocket maximum you should read closely.
Best for: people happy inside a local network who want extras bundled and premiums low.
Part D prescription drug plans
Standalone drug coverage, usually paired with a Supplement. The right plan depends entirely on your specific medications and pharmacy, and the cheapest premium is very often not the cheapest year. We compare on total annual cost, not headline price.
Best for: anyone on Original Medicare or a Supplement who takes regular prescriptions.
Hospital indemnity & senior supplemental
Cash benefits that pay you directly when you're admitted, so an Advantage plan's copays don't come out of savings. Dental, vision, cancer and final-expense products round out the picture for most retirees.
Best for: Advantage members who want to blunt the out-of-pocket exposure their plan allows.
Timing
Miss one and you can face a permanent late-enrolment penalty or a year of waiting. This is the part we won't let you get wrong.
01
Initial Enrolment Period
The seven months around your 65th birthday — three before, your birthday month, three after. This is the cleanest time to buy a Supplement, because carriers can't rate you up for health history.
02
Annual Enrolment Period
15 October to 7 December each year. Switch Advantage plans, change Part D, or move between Advantage and Original Medicare for a 1 January start.
03
Medicare Advantage Open Enrolment
1 January to 31 March. If you're in an Advantage plan and it isn't working, you get one more chance to change it.
04
Special Enrolment Periods
Moving, losing employer coverage, or working past 65 can open a window outside the usual calendar. Call us before you assume you've missed your chance.
Free Medicare checkup
Already enrolled? Plans change their formularies and networks every year, and yours may have quietly moved away from you. We'll re-run your medications and doctors against this year's options and tell you honestly whether to switch or stay.
Supplement or Advantage? It comes down to two things
Ask yourself how much freedom you want in choosing providers, and how much month-to-month cost you're willing to trade for certainty later. Supplements cost more each month and less when you're sick. Advantage plans cost less each month and expose you to copays when you use care.
Neither answer is wrong. What's wrong is being enrolled in one when your life looks like the other — and that's what we're here to check.
Important disclosure
Iggy Insurance is an independent, licensed insurance agency. We are not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program, and we do not offer every plan available in your area. Contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program to discuss all of your options.
One call, your actual doctors and prescriptions, and a short list you can understand. That's the whole appointment.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer in your area.