Medicare Supplement Plan D 2027: Coverage, Cost vs Plan G and Who It Fits

Reviewed by Russell Noga, Licensed Medicare Insurance Broker (all 50 states) — Last updated October 30, 2026

Medicare Supplement Plan D pays the Part A deductible, your 20% Part B coinsurance, hospital and skilled nursing coinsurance, hospice, blood and 80% of foreign travel emergencies, leaving you only the Part B deductible and any Part B excess charges. Anyone new to Medicare can buy it in 2027, and it only makes sense when it costs less than Plan G in your ZIP code.

Many people find Plan D while searching for drug coverage. It is actually a full Medicare Supplement plan that works with Original Medicare. Its benefits match Plan G except for one line, the Part B excess charge, and that gap is why Plan D should cost less.

Below: what Plan D pays in 2027, our own math on when it beats Plan G, and how the plan has changed. To line up every letter at once, open our Medicare Supplement plans comparison chart.

Federal rules set the benefits for each plan letter, so a Plan D from one insurer pays the same bills as a Plan D from any other. Insurers compete on price, rate history and customer service, not on coverage.

Benefits from the Medicare.gov standardized plan chart. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin use their own plan designs and do not sell a lettered Plan D.

Plan D has no yearly out-of-pocket cap, but it rarely needs one. After the Part B deductible, the only bills left are excess charges and the 20% of foreign travel care.

Plan G and Plan D differ on one line. Plan G pays Part B excess charges and Plan D does not. Neither pays the Part B deductible, projected at $292 for 2027.

An excess charge only comes up when a doctor does not accept Medicare assignment. That doctor may bill you up to 15% more than the Medicare-approved amount. If every doctor you use takes assignment, Plan G’s extra benefit never pays you a dollar.

Plan G sells in far greater numbers, so some insurers price it sharply and Plan D can come in at the same price or higher. Check real quotes first. Our Medicare Supplement Plan G guide covers the other side of this choice.

We priced four common events with 2026 Medicare figures, assuming the Part B deductible is already met for the year.

Our calculation using CMS 2026 deductible amounts and standardized plan benefits. Approved amounts are examples, not quotes. Real excess charges depend on the doctor and your state.

Plan D only loses to Plan G on the surgery row, and it beats Plan N on office and ER visits because it has no copays. See our Medicare Supplement Plan N guide for how those copays work.

Medicare uses letters for two unrelated things. Parts A, B, C and D are parts of the Medicare program. Plans A through N are Medicare Supplement plans sold by private insurers.

Plan D does pay your 20% share of drugs given in a clinic, such as infusions, because Part B covers those. Pharmacy prescriptions still need a drug plan.

Plan D is open to anyone with Parts A and B, including people eligible in 2020 or later, unlike Plan C. Still, fewer insurers sell it than Plan G or Plan N, and some ZIP codes have no Plan D at all. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is one insurer that lists a Plan D for its state’s residents.

Policies sold before June 1, 2010 follow older rules, and anyone who kept one still has those benefits.

Sources: California Department of Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee notices on the June 1, 2010 Medicare Supplement changes.

The 2010 update removed the little-used at-home recovery benefit from Plans D, G, I and J and made hospice a core benefit. That left Plan E identical to Plan D, so Plan E was retired.

In 2020, plans paying the Part B deductible closed to newly eligible people, making Plan D the open version of Plan C. Our Medicare Supplement Plan C guide explains that rule.

Medicare Supplement Plan D covers everything Plan G does except Part B excess charges, and it is open to new enrollees in 2027. It is a smart buy only when it is priced clearly below Plan G and your doctors accept Medicare assignment. It is never a substitute for Part D drug coverage.