Cigna's Medicare Plan G: The Best Kept Secret that Might Be Costing You $500/yr or more

It's literally like taking $500 a year and lighting it on fire.

I know that sounds cheesy but stay with us as we look at fantastic Cigna rates for IDENTICAL coverage and networks with other carriers.

Here's the insider's trick you may not know about (but as good agents, we're here to spill)...

The top Medigap carriers have discounts for the first year when you're "New to Medicare" of $25/month

Think new Part B or leaving employer coverage and getting Part B. Those are most common.

This discount hides the true cost till 12 months past by and then everyone (carriers, brokers, etc) are hoping you just stay put and not shop around.

Most seniors do (our estimate...roughly 90%!!) and here's why.

They love their Medicare supplement!

• They can use any doctor/hospital that works with Medicare
• They refer themselves out
• They can go anywhere in the US!
• Very little out of pocket except for the Part B deductible (with a G plan)

What no one is talking about is the fact that all the things they like about their plan are because of the G plan...not the carrier.

We'll touch on that below but first, our credentials on helping seniors compare and find the best medigap:

This is what we'll cover:

• Medigap plans are all the same at a given level
• The Cigna rate surprise in certain counties
• Why is Cigna so much cheaper? What gives?
• How to quote and compare Cigna and other Medigap plans
• When and how to switch (without losing any coverage)

If you want the video version...

Otherwise, let's get started. That $500 is starting to smolder.

Medigap plans are all the same at a given level

This is so important because it stops many people from shopping the medigap market.

Medicare supplements are standardized at the Federal level.

This means that a G plan is IDENTICAL to another G plan, regardless of the carrier

The networks across ALL medicare supplements are the same. You can see any doctor or use any hospital that works with Medicare.

That's about 99% of the 120K doctors in California.

Better yet, you can see Medicare doctors in other States.

• Cancer specialists in Houston. Sure
• Mayo Clinic in AZ? You bet.

And in California, Stanford, the UCs, Cedars and even huge networks that are starting to discontinue working with Advantage plans like...

Scripps in San Diego!

That's been a trend during 2024-2025 and unfortunately, we expect to see more of it.

No issue for Medicare supplements though and that's the true across the carriers.

Then there are the benefits.

A G plan with one carrier will have IDENTICAL benefits to a G plan with another carrier.

By law!

Same holds for an N plan (2nd most popular) or any other Medicare supplement.

Customer service is also similar across the big carriers because Medicare dictates what is covered.

When a claim goes through, Medicare makes the determination and pays their part. A notification is sent to the carrier behind the scenes and they pick up their part.

There's no arguing claims with the carrier, etc. Very similar and clean.

So...the big difference is the cost and that's where Cigna has been shining depending on your area and age.

Let's take a look at examples but you can always run your quote here:

The Cigna rate surprise in certain counties

We run quotes for people all day long. 1000's per year. You start to see trends when we quote all the carriers.

It caught our attention that in certain counties with San Diego, Riverside, Monterey, and others really standing out, Cigna was blowing away the competition on price for the most popular plan...the G medigap plan.

Remember, you probably got quoted the 1st year New to Medicare with a $25/month discount from 4 big California carriers. They're hoping you never look around after that period.

We're betting you never got a re-quote in year 2!!   See...we really want our clients to get the best value even it means more work for us.

For this reason, we quoted age 66, assuming a person took the discount at age 65 (the majority of Medicare enrollments) and we're at the end of that window.

Looking at a recent quote across carriers (check your current rates below)

Goodness...$139.44 at age 66. Look at the other carriers. Aetna's a bit of an outlier (more on why the other carriers are higher below) but even the other carriers are averaging around $500/year more.

EXACT. SAME. PLAN.

Interestingly, the three carriers that offer the New to Medicare discount probably make up around 80% of the San Diego county market of approximately 50K medigap plans.

So...around $500 x 40000 people = $20,000,000

Just off the back of the envelope estimation...

San Diego seniors are burning around $20M/year that they could use somewhere else.

And...no one...is talking about it!

We are!! We're independent agents that work with all these major Medigap carriers but our goal is the best value.

Reach out to us to get your personalized quote or run it instantly here:

We just need zip code and date of birth. We'll run the whole market for you!

Again, county matters so we'll let you know if there's a cheaper option in your area.

Why is Cigna so much cheaper? What gives?

It's two fold really.

Some of the carriers just don't really want the business. Look at Aetna's rates!!

What are they thinking since all the carriers are dealing with the same risk profile (remember..a G plan benefits and networks are standardized at the Federal level).

Aetna is a huge Employer insurer so they're hoping people will retire off their group plans (especially large companies) and just "roll" over to their Medigap plans regardless of the cost.

If someone makes quite a bit of money and their share of the old employer plan was $500-1000/month, $258 for the G plan is going to sound great!

After all, Aetna's not going to price shop the other carriers for them and they make it easy to move over.

More power to them...it obviously works on enough people for them to keep their rates there.

Even the other more competitive carriers right up from Cigna (which probably make up 50-70% of the medigap market in San Diego) are still close to $500/year more.

So...Cigna may just be more aggressive in pricing right now to grow marketshare (likely) but let's take advantage of it!

Why?? Because, with the birthday rule, we can change GUARANTEED ISSUE (regardless of health) each year around our birthday.

More on that below but essentially, we can game the system and price shop annually if the rates go up later.

Keep in mind that as we age, the most competitive carrier can and does change so it makes sense to check rates.

Zero cost for our assistance!

How to quote and compare Cigna and other Medigap plans

Two ways to do this.

You can run your direct Cigna quote here (best rates available):

You can quote all the major carriers including Cigna here:

Or, if you want it done for you (we get it!!), let us do the heavy lifting...just email date of birth, zip code, and current plan/carrier.

Remember, there can be discounts if you live with someone age 50+ in the same household (doesn't have to be a spouse). Big discounts of 6-10%.

On top of the already lower pricing.

Reach out to us with any questions...again, no cost for our assistance and if your current plan is better, we'll tell you that after quoting all the option.

One note...if you're on the old F, I, or J plan, you're likely doubly-paying too much. We have a whole review on the F versus G plan but on average, that's another $500/year savings.

Let's say you want to switch. What's involved? This keeps many seniors in their expensive plans but we have good news here.

When and how to switch (without losing any coverage)

We just need to submit the application and there's no obligation.  We can walk you through it and take maybe 10 minutes!

Online app is available here but we can send the hard copy as well:

We want to apply prior to the 1st of the month you want it to start.

A few notes on eligibility.

Again, we can apply any time during the year. Medicare supplements do not have the restrictive Open Enrollment windows that Advantage plans and Part D have.

Outside of guaranteed issue windows, it is subject to medical underwriting but we get most people approved (your health generally has to be more impaired).

But...there's good news in California!

We have the Birthday rule which means you can switch to a similar or lesser medigap benefit plan around your birthday with NO HEALTH UNDERWRITING!

Guaranteed Issue.  Regardless of health!

Reach out to us and we can handwalk you through the whole process and even the application itself.

Check out our Google ratings...we take this seriously.

Again, the question is why are you just now hearing about this if you have a broker?

Look...most agent/brokers may not be inclined to take on extra work if a person is already enrolled with them. They're busy trying to find new clients so showing them a cheaper G plan is just extra work.

That's not how we look at it! Our goal is to get all that $20M in excess premium put back into the pockets of Medigap plan holders. And that's just San Diego!

Unless you want to ship off $500 extra per year to the carrier.

Inertia's tough so if the changing is what you're avoiding, we'll make it painless, fast, and automated.

Best yet, we can run your numbers each year to see if anything looks better. Also, check out the N versus G plan as a possible option.

We want the flexibility and control of the Medicare supplement plan but without paying extra cost.

Pretty simple.