Medigap premiums leap, and consumers have few alternatives

HealthWatch Medigap premiums leap, and consumers have few alternatives .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-healthwatch.jpg'); } By Julie Appleby April 22, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / KFF Health News Add CBS News on Google After decades of selling insurance, Illinois-based broker John Jaggi had never seen anything like it.More than 80 of his customers who were enrolled in the same Medicare supplemental plan from the insurer Chubb got hit last August with a 45% increase."In my 49 years of doing biz as a broker, I've never seen a premium increase be effective immediately on everyone, instead of on their policy anniversary," said Jaggi, whose brokerage scrambled to find more affordable options for clients. The policies pick up deductibles and other costs not covered in traditional Medicare, and without one there is no upper limit on how much a consumer might owe each year.While 45% was an unusually big jump, Jaggi and other brokers say double-digit premium increases for Medicare supplemental, or Medigap, policies are becoming the norm.A Chubb spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on the increase.More than 12 million people — about 43% of those in traditional Medicare — buy a Medigap policy. Others rely on some sort of retiree employer coverage or a different backup. About 13% of people in traditional Medicare don't have supplemental coverage, according to KFF, meaning they could be vulnerable to large costs if they have a serious illness.In the supplemental market, following big increases last year, rates appear to be rising again. In early 2026 filings with state insurance commissioners from Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, Mutual of Omaha, and UnitedHealthcare, rate increases for Plan G policies — the most commonly purchased supplement type — ranged from just over 12% to more than 26% in the first quarter, according to Nebraska-based consulting firm Telos Actuarial. "While this i...