If you live in Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee, Lenexa or anywhere else in Johnson County, the rules for Medicare Supplement plans come from Kansas. They are not the same as the rules across State Line Road in Missouri. The good news is that they are simple once you know your windows. Here is what to know, in plain words.
A quick word on what a Supplement is
A Medicare Supplement, also called Medigap, works next to Original Medicare. It helps pay costs Medicare leaves behind, like deductibles and coinsurance. You can see any doctor or hospital in the country that takes Medicare, on either side of the state line. Plans are named by letter, like Plan G or Plan N, and the benefits for each letter are set by federal rules. Medicare.gov has a chart that compares them.
Your one-time open enrollment window
Your best time to buy is your Medigap open enrollment period. It starts the first month you are 65 or older and have Part B, and it lasts six months. During that time, any company selling Supplements in Kansas must sell you any plan it offers, at the same rate it charges a healthy person.
This window comes once. It does not come back each year. If you keep working past 65 and wait on Part B because you have job coverage, your window waits too. It starts when your Part B starts. The Kansas Insurance Department explains this in its Shopper’s Guide.
One small catch: a company can still make you wait up to six months to cover a condition you were treated for in the six months before your policy began. If you had other health coverage before, there is often no wait at all.
Kansas has no birthday rule
Some states let people switch Supplements each year around their birthday or policy anniversary, with no health questions. Kansas does not. The May 2026 chart from the NAIC, the national group of state insurance regulators, lists no birthday or anniversary rule for Kansas.
That means your first pick matters more here. Outside your open window, a company in Kansas can ask health questions and can say no. So it pays to choose carefully the first time.
How Missouri is different
Missouri, right next door, has an anniversary rule. Each year, in the 30 days before or after your policy anniversary, a Missouri resident can switch to the same plan letter with another company, with no health questions. The Missouri Department of Insurance explains it in Bulletin 99-03.
That rule depends on where you live, not where your doctor is. If you move from Kansas City, Missouri to Johnson County, you leave that rule behind. If you are thinking about a move, talk to us first. See Missouri vs Kansas rules for the side by side.
When you can buy without health questions later
Even after your open window ends, certain events give you a guaranteed issue right. That means a company must sell you certain plans with no health questions. Common ones:
- Your job or retiree coverage ends. This includes COBRA, when it was paying after Medicare.
- Your Medicare Advantage plan ends. Or it stops serving Johnson County, or you move out of its area.
- Your trial right. You joined Medicare Advantage when you first got Medicare at 65, and you leave it within the first year.
- You tried Advantage for the first time. You dropped a Supplement to try it, and you want to go back within the first year.
You usually have 63 days after your coverage ends to use the right. If you became eligible for Medicare in 2020 or later, you can pick from Plans A, B, D, G, K and L. If you were eligible before 2020, the list is A, B, C, F, K and L. Plan N is not on the list, though some companies offer it anyway. Keep every letter your plan sends, because it is your proof.
This matters right now. Some Medicare Advantage plans in the Kansas City area are ending for 2027. We cover one example in Humana Medicare Advantage 2027. If yours is one of them, you may have a rare chance to move to a Supplement with no health questions.
Under 65 and on disability
Kansas does well here. If you have Medicare before 65 because of a disability, Kansas companies must offer you every Supplement plan they sell, in a six-month window that starts with your Part B. They must charge you the same rate as someone who just turned 65. When you do turn 65, you get a second open window. That is a good time to shop again.
Free help in Johnson County
You have free, local help that does not sell insurance:
- SHICK (Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas) is the state’s free Medicare counseling program. Call 800-860-5260.
- Johnson County Area Agency on Aging sets up local SHICK counseling appointments. Call 913-715-8856. The county also lists free Medicare sessions during open enrollment on its SHICK page.
We are glad to work alongside them. We are a local, independent agency, and our help is free too.
What to do next
- Find the month your Part B started, or will start.
- If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, check your October letters to see if it is ending.
- Write down your doctors and any health changes since you last applied for coverage.
- Call us before you drop any plan. We will map your windows and show you the Supplement plans we offer.
Read our full guide to Kansas Medigap rules, or see local pages for Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee, Lenexa and all of Kansas City, Kansas. Call (816) 307-6165 or book a free review.
Live in the Kansas City area? Talk with a Medicare agent in Kansas City, on the Missouri side or the Kansas side. Our help is free.
Sources
- Kansas Insurance Department: Medicare Supplement Shopper's Guide (Rev. 2026)
- Kansas SHICK: Disability and Medicare (checked October 2026)
- NAIC: Medigap birthday rule and under-65 chart (May 2026)
- Medicare.gov: Compare Medigap plan benefits (checked October 2026)
- Johnson County Area Agency on Aging: SHICK Medicare insurance counseling (checked October 2026)
- CMS: Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas contact (checked October 2026)
- Missouri Department of Insurance: Bulletin 99-03, Medicare Supplement anniversary rule
