Searching for “Blue Cross Medicare Supplement” is a bit like searching for “credit union checking account.” There is no such product. Blue Cross Blue Shield is a trademark licensed to a set of independent, locally operated insurance companies, and each one writes its own Medigap policies, files its own rates with its own regulator, and answers its own phone.
That structure is the single most useful thing to understand before you shop, because it means the answer to “what does Blue Cross charge for Plan G” changes at the state line, and sometimes at the county line. Below are actual 2026 filed premiums from four different Blue companies, pulled from two state insurance departments.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Is Not One Insurer
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s own company directory, which we opened on September 7, 2026, lists a local Blue company for every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Six jurisdictions have more than one: Idaho, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. The association does not publish a headcount on that page, and the honest framing is that there are dozens of Blue brands sitting on top of a much smaller number of parent companies.
The big families you are likely to run into:
- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield covers 14 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- Highmark covers Delaware, West Virginia, parts of Pennsylvania, and parts of New York.
- Regence covers Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and most of Washington.
- Premera covers Alaska and Washington.
- CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield covers Maryland, DC, and part of Virginia.
- Wellmark covers Iowa and South Dakota.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas share one parent, HCSC.
- Several are genuinely standalone, including Florida Blue, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Horizon in New Jersey, Excellus in upstate New York, and Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia.
Because Medigap benefits are federally standardized, a Blue Plan G and a Mutual of Omaha Plan G pay identically. The Blue logo tells you nothing about coverage. It only tells you which company set the price.
How to Find Your Own Blue Plan
Two steps, in this order.
Start with the association’s directory. It maps every state to its local Blue company or companies, and it is the only authoritative list. Then note that in some states you also need your county. Washington is the cleanest example: Premera Blue Cross sells everywhere except Clark County, Regence BlueShield sells in 22 named counties, and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon sells only to Clark County residents. Three Blues, one state, three prices.
Then go to your state insurance department’s Medicare supplement rate guide. These publications list every carrier’s filed premium for every plan letter side by side, which is the only true apples-to-apples comparison that exists. Maryland’s is published twice a year, in January and July. Washington’s is a single chart with a “rates current as of” date on every page. If you only do one thing before buying, do this one, and read our Medigap cost guide for how to read the numbers.
What Blue Cross Medigap Costs
Two states, four Blue licensees, all 2026 filings.
| Blue company (state) | Plan A | Plan G | Plan N | High-deductible G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premera Blue Cross (WA, effective 4/1/2026) | $240 | $286 | $215 | $71 |
| Regence BlueShield (WA, effective 4/1/2026) | $282 | $317 | $244 | not filed |
| Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon (Clark County WA, effective 1/1/2026) | $241 | $279 | $223 | not filed |
| CareFirst MedPlus (MD, male 65, open-enrollment rate) | $1,052 | $249 | $187 | $72 |
| CareFirst MedPlus (MD, female 65, open-enrollment rate) | $988 | $234 | $176 | $68 |
Washington’s figures are current as of July 23, 2026 per the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Washington is a community-rated state, so one premium applies at every age. Maryland’s are as of July 1, 2026 and are attained-age, so they climb annually: the same CareFirst male Plan G goes from $249 at 65 to $315 at 70, $382 at 75, $453 at 80, and $512 at 85.
Three observations worth more than the table itself.
Plan G under a blue logo ranges from $227 to $317 a month at 65 across these filings, once you include CareFirst’s Eastern and Southern Maryland region, where a 65-year-old woman pays $227. Same benefits. Roughly a 40% spread.
Plan A is a trap at some Blues. CareFirst files Plan A at over $1,000 a month in Maryland while pricing Plan G, which covers far more, at $249. Plan A blocks are often small and adversely selected. Never shop by assuming the earliest letter is the cheapest.
Washington’s cheapest Blue Plan G is not sold by a Blue at retail. The state Health Care Authority sponsors a Premera Blue Cross Plan G at $233 a month for Washington residents who are not Public Employees Benefits Board members, undercutting Premera’s own retail filing by $53. State-sponsored Medigap programs like this exist quietly in a handful of states and almost never surface in a broker’s quote.
Anthem Medicare Supplement Specifically
Anthem carries the Blue license in more states than any other Blue family, and it is also the best illustration of how invisible the corporate structure is to a shopper.
Anthem’s policies are not issued by a company called Anthem. In Nevada, the Division of Insurance’s 2026 Medigap guide lists the filer as Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service Inc, with anthem.com as the consumer website. Other Anthem states use other entity names. If you want to research complaint records, rate-increase history, or guaranty-fund coverage, you need that legal entity name, not the brand, and your state rate guide is where it is printed.
The practical takeaway for anyone comparing Anthem across state lines: don’t. An Anthem quote in Ohio tells you nothing about an Anthem quote in Maine. Each is a separate filing by a separate company that happens to share a logo. What you can do is compare Anthem against the other carriers listed in your own state’s guide, alongside Humana, Mutual of Omaha, AARP/UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, USAA, State Farm, and United American. If you also want Anthem’s Part C option, see Anthem Medicare Advantage.
The Timing Penalty Is Bigger Than Any Brand Difference
Maryland’s guide files three separate CareFirst rate levels, and the gap between them dwarfs everything above.
Level 1 rates apply if you apply during your six-month Medigap open enrollment period or during a guaranteed-issue window. Level 3 rates apply to people who have to pass medical underwriting. For a 65-year-old man in the Baltimore, DC, and Western Maryland region, Plan G costs $249 at Level 1 and $498 at Level 3. Plan N goes from $187 to $374. Both are exactly double.
Medicare.gov puts the risk plainly: outside your open enrollment window, “the insurance company is allowed to deny you a policy if you don’t meet their medical underwriting requirements.” Your open enrollment period starts the first month you are 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, and it lasts six months. It does not come back.
CareFirst also files a 10% household discount for policyholders who live with another enrolled MedPlus member. That is worth having, but it is a rounding error next to applying on time.
What Blue Cross Medigap Does Not Cover
Standard Medigap rules apply no matter whose logo is on the card. No prescription coverage, so you need a separate Part D plan or you risk a late enrollment penalty. No dental, vision, or hearing. And you keep paying Medicare the standard $202.90 Part B premium in 2026, per the CMS fact sheet released November 14, 2025, on top of the Blue premium.
Plans C and F are closed to anyone who turned 65 on or after January 1, 2020, per Medicare.gov, which is why the Washington chart lists those two letters in a separate column from the rest. High-deductible Plan G carries a $2,950 deductible in 2026 before it pays anything, which is why Premera can sell it for $71 a month.
The Bottom Line
There is no Blue Cross Medicare Supplement plan to shop. There is your state’s Blue, and it may not be the same company as your neighbor’s if you live near a county line in Washington, Idaho, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, or Virginia.
Find your local Blue in the association’s directory, look up that exact company in your state insurance department’s Medicare supplement rate guide, and compare its filed Plan G and Plan N premiums against every other carrier in the same chart. Then apply during your six-month open enrollment window, because at CareFirst that timing is worth twice as much as any brand you could pick.
Still deciding between letters or between Medigap and an Advantage plan? Start with Plan G versus Plan N, then Medicare Advantage versus Medigap. And if the premium is out of reach, check Medicare Savings Programs before you settle for less coverage.