By Mark Garrett, AJ Health and Wealth | Serving Escambia and Santa Rosa County Seniors
Every week, I sit down with someone in Pace, Pensacola, or Milton who’s stuck on the same question: should I go with Medicare Advantage or a Medicare Supplement plan? It’s one of the biggest decisions you’ll make as a Medicare beneficiary, and honestly, there’s no universal right answer. The right choice depends less on which plan is “better” and more on how you actually live your life. Let’s walk through both options, then look at them through the lens of real lifestyles I see here across the Florida Panhandle every day.
The Basics: Two Very Different Paths
Medicare Advantage (Part C) replaces Original Medicare. A private insurance company takes over your Part A and Part B benefits, usually bundles in Part D drug coverage, and often adds extras like dental, vision, hearing, and gym memberships. In 2026, roughly 54% of Medicare beneficiaries nationwide are enrolled in an Advantage plan, and many of these plans carry a $0 monthly premium beyond what you already pay for Part B.
Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, works completely differently. You keep Original Medicare as your primary coverage, and a Medigap policy fills in the gaps — the deductibles, copays, and coinsurance that Original Medicare leaves on your plate. You’ll pay a monthly premium for this protection, but in exchange, you get access to any doctor in the country who accepts Medicare, with no networks and no referrals.
Both build on the same foundation: the 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 a month, and the Part B deductible is $283 a year. Everyone pays that regardless of which path they choose. From there, the two roads diverge significantly.
The Real Cost Picture in 2026
Medicare Advantage plans often look cheaper on the surface, and for a healthy year, they usually are. But they come with an annual out-of-pocket maximum that, for 2026, can run as high as $9,350 for in-network care. That’s the absolute most you’d pay in a bad year — but it’s also a number worth sitting with. A single hospitalization or a cancer diagnosis can push you toward that ceiling fast.
Medicare Supplement plans flip that script. Plan G, the most popular supplement choice among the folks I work with, covers nearly all of Original Medicare’s cost-sharing once you’ve met the $283 Part B deductible. Your costs stay nearly identical whether you have a quiet, healthy year or a year filled with surgeries and specialist visits. You’ll pay a monthly premium for that predictability, and Plan G premiums in our area typically land somewhere in the range other Panhandle clients have seen — generally higher than an Advantage premium, but stable.
One catch with Medigap: it doesn’t include drug coverage. You’ll need a standalone Part D plan, which carries its own separate premium and deductible (up to $615 in 2026). Advantage plans, by contrast, usually fold drug coverage into the same plan.
Lifestyle Scenario: The Snowbird
If you split your time between the Panhandle and another state — heading north in the summer or spending winters somewhere warmer — network restrictions become a real concern. Medicare Advantage plans are typically built around HMO or PPO networks tied to a specific service area, meaning your coverage outside that footprint may be limited to true emergencies only.
Medigap plans don’t have this problem. Because they pair with Original Medicare, you can see any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare, full stop. For clients of mine who own a second home or travel for months at a time, this single factor often settles the decision in favor of a Supplement plan.
Lifestyle Scenario: The Frequent Traveler
Even if you’re not gone for months at a time, if you travel often to visit grandkids, take road trips, or just like to get away, the same network logic applies. An unexpected urgent care visit or specialist referral while you’re out of town can get complicated fast on an Advantage plan. With a Supplement plan, you simply show your card to any Medicare-accepting provider, anywhere, and it works the same as it would at home.
Lifestyle Scenario: The Loyal Patient
Many of my clients across Pensacola, Pace, and Milton have spent years, sometimes decades, with the same physicians at places like Baptist Health Care, Ascension Sacred Heart, or HCA Florida West Florida Hospital. If keeping those exact relationships matters to you, it’s worth checking carefully which Advantage plans include your specific doctors in-network before enrolling — and what happens if that network changes next year, since Advantage networks can shift annually.
With a Medigap plan, this concern disappears. Your relationship with your doctor isn’t subject to a private insurer’s contract negotiations. As long as your provider accepts Medicare, which the vast majority of physicians nationwide do, you’re covered.
Lifestyle Scenario: Budget-Conscious and Generally Healthy
Not every situation points toward Medigap. If you’re on a tight, fixed income and a low or $0 monthly premium genuinely matters for your budget, and you’re in good health with few chronic conditions, a Medicare Advantage plan can be a smart fit. You’ll also get added perks like dental, vision, hearing, and sometimes meal delivery after a hospital stay — benefits that aren’t included in Original Medicare at all and would otherwise cost extra to purchase separately.
The trade-off is accepting some uncertainty: if your health changes unexpectedly, your costs can change right along with it.
Timing Matters More Than People Realize
If you want to switch from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare plus a Supplement plan later, you may run into medical underwriting — meaning a Medigap insurer could ask health questions and potentially deny coverage or charge more based on your health history. The safest time to lock in a Supplement plan without those questions is during your Initial Enrollment Period around your 65th birthday, or during your Medigap Open Enrollment Period. Choosing wisely from the start can save you a headache down the road.
There’s No Universal Right Answer — But There Is a Right Answer for You
Neither Medicare Advantage nor Medicare Supplement is objectively better. One rewards predictability and freedom; the other rewards low upfront costs and bundled extras. The right fit depends entirely on how you live — whether that’s splitting time between two states, sticking with longtime doctors at Baptist or Sacred Heart, or simply wanting the lowest possible monthly bill.
This is exactly the kind of decision where talking it through with someone who knows the local landscape makes a real difference. I’m Mark Garrett with AJ Health and Wealth, and I’ve spent years walking Medicare beneficiaries across Escambia and Santa Rosa County through exactly this choice — matching plans to lifestyles, not the other way around.
Not Sure Which Path Fits Your Life?
Mark Garrett and AJ Health and Wealth offer no-cost, no-obligation Medicare guidance for seniors in Pace, Milton, Pensacola, and across the Florida Panhandle.
Call our local office today to talk through your options — there’s never a cost or obligation.
AJ Health and Wealth is not connected with the Federal Medicare program. By contacting this number, you will be connected with a licensed insurance agent. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE or your local State Health Insurance Program to get information on all of your options.