You’ll have to do a little research to get a plan best suited to your needs. Here are some considerations.

• Review needs – Make a list of your recent-past and expected-future uncovered health-care expenses. Be ready to compare your needs to what policies offer to make sure this is a beneficial buy for you.
• Find insurers – Log on to aarp.org for a list of Medigap insurers, or contact your state insurance department.
• Compare pricing – These policies generally price in one of three ways, based on: attained age (You start out cheaper, but the price increases automatically as you age.); issue-age (The price stays the same based on your age when you first buy.); and community rating (Everyone in your area pays the same rate, no matter their age.) See Ian below. He has a tip on this.
• Confirm claim-processing procedures – You’ll want an insurer that’s arranged to file your claims automatically with Medicare, otherwise you’ll be putting in a lot of time managing this yourself.
• Check reliability – Before buying, check with independent rating agencies to determine the insurer’s financial stability. You want assurance that the insurer will be around when you need it to pay claims. To do this, log onto www.ambest.com, or www.weissratings.com.