Short answer: Yes — but it counts toward the Plan G High-Deductible limit.
How it works:
With High Deductible Plan G, you must pay all Medicare-covered costs (including:
• Medicare Part B deductible
• Part A deductible
• Coinsurance and copays)
until you meet the plan’s annual high deductible.
Once that high deductible amount is reached, the plan begins paying just like a regular Plan G.
Key points:
| Feature | Regular Plan G | High Deductible Plan G |
|---|---|---|
| Part B Deductible | You pay it | You pay it (applies toward HD plan deductible) |
| Other Part A/B costs before deductible | Mostly covered | You pay until high deductible is met |
| Premiums | Higher | Lower |
Quotes with a high-deductible Med Supp Plan G for a 65-year-old Michigan male.
| Example High-Deductible Med Supp Plan G for a 65-Year-Old Michigan Male | |
|---|---|
| Plan | Monthly premium |
|
High-deductible Med Supp Plan G Projected 2026 deductible at time of quote: $2,950 |
$37 |
|
Cancer $10,000, 3 years of maximum out-of-pocket |
$26.90 |
|
Hospital indemnity $300/day for 10 days |
$19.99 |
|
Short-term care $200/day for assisted living + $900 in cash for 13 weeks |
$49.28 |
| Total | $133.17 |
Lowest-cost standard Plan G in that area: |
$125 |
| Pairing the high-deductible G with ancillary plans delivers more coverage for only an additional $8.17! | |
✅ What we know about Plan G / High-Deductible Plan G
Plan G supplements Original Medicare (Parts A & B) by covering most out-of-pocket costs — coinsurance, copays, hospital costs, etc. It does not cover your Part B deductible.
With High-Deductible Plan G, you are responsible for paying the Medicare Part B deductible plus additional out-of-pocket costs until a defined annual deductible is met; only then does the supplement coverage begin. In 2026, a common deductible for High-Deductible Plan G is around $2,950.
You can pair High-Deductible Plan G with GTL Advantage Plus Elite to mimic a cheaper Plan G feel, but it’s really:
Lower premium + limited risk, partially backfilled by cash benefits,
I’ll walk through:
What each piece does How to structure the combo Side-by-side illustrations (no-claims year vs heavy-claims year)
1. Quick refresher on the pieces
Standard Medigap Plan G (2026)
Covers almost all Medicare A & B cost-sharing except the Part B deductible. You pay: Part B deductible: $240 in 2026 Monthly premium (often relatively high)
Once that’s done, you’re basically at 100% coverage for Medicare-approved services for the rest of the year.
High-Deductible Plan G (HDG)
Same benefits as Plan G, but it doesn’t pay anything until you’ve spent $2,950 out of pocket on Medicare-covered costs in 2026. That $2,950 includes: Part A deductible and coinsurance Part B deductible and 20% coinsurance Premium is usually much lower than standard Plan G.

GTL Advantage Plus Elite (hospital indemnity)
Not Medigap; it’s a cash indemnity: Pays $100–$750 per day of hospital stay (3–15+ day benefit periods, etc.) Designed to help with out-of-pocket expenses, originally marketed for MA plans. Riders/extra benefits: ER, ambulance, observation, etc. Money is paid to the policyholder, and they can use it however they want (including pocketing money paid above the claim costs).
You’re basically using GTL to reimburse a chunk of the HDG deductible when there’s a serious event.
2. Strategy: “Fake a cheaper Plan G”
Concept:
-
Switch from Standard G → High-Deductible G
- Save material premium each month.
-
Layer GTL Advantage Plus Elite on top
- Configure daily hospital benefit + riders so that, in typical inpatient/ER scenarios,
- GTL cash ≈ the out-of-pocket you’d face under HDG.
-
Net effect for the client:
- Year with no or low usage: → Much lower total cost vs standard G (because of lower premiums).
- Year with a big hospital event: → Higher cost than standard G, but GTL helps shrink the gap.
Important: You cannot perfectly replicate Plan G line-by-line. GTL only pays when triggers (hospital/ER/etc.) are met; it doesn’t automatically cover every Part B office visit copay.
3. Recommended plan designs (illustrative only, 2026 numbers)
Let’s use round, made-up premiums just to illustrate the mechanics (not actual quotes):
- Standard Plan G premium: $180/month → $2,160/year
- High-Deductible Plan G premium: $60/month → $720/year
- GTL Advantage Plus Elite premium: $45/month → $540/year
Total premium HDG + GTL = $1,260/year
vs Standard G premium = $2,160/year
→ $900/year lower premium (in this example)
2026 key cost numbers:
- Part B deductible: $240
- High-Deductible G deductible: $2,950
Suggested GTL benefit setup
You might design Advantage Plus Elite like:
- $300/day hospital benefit
- 6-day benefit period (restoring after 60 days)
- Emergency Room + ambulance rider
That gives:
- One 4-day hospital stay → $1,200 cash
- Max use of 6 days → $1,800 cash per confinement
- Plus extra from ER/ambulance riders
4. Illustration 1 – No hospital claims year
Scenario: A couple office visits, maybe a scan; no hospitalization.
| Standard Plan G | High-Ded G + GTL | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual premium | $2,160 | $1,260 |
| Part B deductible | $240 | $240 (still owed) |
| Other cost-sharing | $0 (G pays) | Up to $2,613 more possible before HDG kicks in |
| GTL cash | $0 (no trigger) | $0 |
| Likely total (light use) | ≈ $2,399 (premium + Part B ded.) | ≈ $1,499 (premium + Part B ded., assuming no big events) |
In a light-use year, the HDG + GTL combo is usually cheaper overall, because you’re trading richer day-one coverage for lower fixed premium.
5. Illustration 2 – One big hospitalization year
Scenario (simplified):
Inpatient stay + outpatient services mean you basically hit the full HDG deductible ($2,950) in Medicare cost-sharing over the year.
Standard Plan G
Premium: $2,160 Part B deductible: $240 All other Medicare cost-sharing: $0 (covered by G)
Total ≈ $2,399
HD Plan G + GTL Advantage Plus Elite
- Premiums (HDG + GTL): $1,260 Medicare cost-sharing up to HDG deductible: $2,950
- GTL benefits (e.g., 6 days × $300/day): −$1,800 cash
- Net out-of-pocket on medical side ≈ $2,870 − $1,800 = $1,070
Total ≈ $1,260 + $1,070 = $2,330
In this particular example, HDG + GTL actually comes out slightly better than Standard G in a heavy-use year.
If the stay is shorter or benefits chosen are smaller, HDG + GTL could cost a bit more than Standard G in a bad year — but you still had cheaper premiums in all the other years.
6. Illustration 3 – Very heavy claims year
If you have:
- Multiple hospitalizations exceeding the GTL benefit periods, or
- Lots of expensive outpatient Part B services (chemo, infusions, imaging)
Then:
- Standard G still caps them at the Part B deductible + premium.
- HDG exposes them to up to $2,950 in cost-sharing, but:
- Every time there’s a qualifying hospital/ER event, GTL pumps cash back into your pocket.
- You design GTL to cover a big chunk of that worst-case scenario.
You can’t create absolute identical plan benefits, but you can make the expected net risk a lot closer to standard G while saving on your monthly premiums.
7. How to present this (to a client, or in your own head)
Framing:
Standard G = simplicity and predictability Higher fixed premium, very low exposure. HDG + GTL = efficiency with managed risk Lower fixed premium, higher potential exposure cushioned by targeted cash benefits.
Key points:
- Same Medicare-covered benefits as Plan G after the high deductible is met.
- Using a hospital indemnity plan to help offset the out-of-pocket risk created by the high deductible.
- This doesn’t replace Medigap; it’s a separate policy that pays cash benefits you can use toward your deductible and coinsurance.
- In low-claim years you save on premium; in high-claim years, you may pay similar or somewhat higher total out-of-pocket compared to standard Plan G, depending on how much GTL pays out.
8. Caveats you definitely want to keep in mind
Advantage Plus Elite is designed/marketed primarily to pair with Medicare Advantage, not Medigap — but the cash still works the same way. It won’t automatically match every Part B copay or 20% coin exactly — only when benefit triggers are met.
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