Plan G vs Plan N in Tennessee: A $86.30 Plan N in Every County, and Few Who Buy It

By Anthony Orner, Independent Licensed Medicare Insurance Broker · Tennessee filed rates pulled September 10, 2026, CSG Actuarial · Davidson County (ZIP 37221)

Tennessee's cheapest Plan N is $86.30, from TRH Health (Tennessee Farm Bureau), filed at that price in every one of the 16 key counties in our file for a 65-year-old woman who does not use tobacco (CSG Actuarial, pulled September 10, 2026). The cheapest Plan G in Davidson County is $145.19, from LifeShield National. $58.89 a month apart, $707 a year.

That gap ranks 2 of 28 in our file, near the widest, and it buys about 35 office copays a year. The reason is one company: a Farm Bureau membership health plan files Plan N far under the field with a Plan G that ranks 2. Its own two letters sit $63.34 apart. Yet Plan N is a small minority of Tennessee policies. Cheap and popular are not the same thing here.

The carrier pays the broker. The filed premium is the same with or without us.

The Plan N Floor Never Moves; the Plan G Floor Does

TRH Health (Tennessee Farm Bureau) files $86.30 in every key county, so the Plan N floor is one number for the state. The Plan G floor is $145.19 in Davidson County and $131.58 in the other 15 key counties, so the gap between the letters is $58.89 in Nashville and $45.28 nearly everywhere else. Tennessee files 32 rating areas across 95 counties; the statewide Plan G low is $131.58 in Anderson County.

Each county at the ZIP covering the most of its land area; woman, 65, non-tobacco, no household discount.

26 Tennessee Carriers, Sorted by Plan N

9 carriers price the letters $60 or more apart, Guarantee Trust Life the widest at $97.36. United American files Plan N $54.00 above its Plan G, in red. USAA Life ($3.23), WPS Health Solutions ($15.46), AARP / UnitedHealthcare ($17.23) price the letters within one office copay, in amber.

ZIP 37221, CSG Actuarial filings pulled September 10, 2026; each carrier's lowest filed rate class. Rank in parentheses is the carrier's place on the Davidson County board for that letter. New Era Life files Plan N only. Physicians Mutual, Bankers Fidelity Assurance file Plan G only.

The Gap Is Widest at 65

At 70 the floors are $105.27 for Plan N and $150.36 for Plan G, $45.09 apart against $58.89 at 65. The Plan N floor changes hands at later ages. The gap widens between 65 and 70 in 19 of the other 27 states in our file; Tennessee's narrows, because the cheapest Plan N climbs faster than the cheapest Plan G does. Buy on the age-65 numbers and expect the saving to shrink.

Davidson County floors by age; statewide medians.

What Plan N Leaves With You in Tennessee

Up to $20 at some office visits, up to $50 at an ER visit that does not become an admission, and Part B excess charges, which Tennessee allows a non-participating doctor to bill at up to 15% above the approved amount. Plan G pays all three. Neither letter pays the $283 Part B deductible; both pay the $1,736 Part A deductible.

Tennessee held 20,123 Plan N policies at the December 2023 NAIC count, 6.5% of 308,365, rank 24 of 28 in our file, against 142,900 on Plan G and 125,018 on the closed Plan F. 23 carriers in the table carry a 2026 Plan G filing, 20 at 15% or more, the largest AARP / UnitedHealthcare at +40.0% effective June 1, 2026. The Tennessee list is on 2026 Medigap rate increases.

Methodology

• Every premium is a filed rate read at build time from the Tennessee file of our licensed CSG Actuarial pull dated September 10, 2026. No number is typed.
• Profile: woman, non-tobacco, individual, no household discount, ZIP 37221 in Davidson County; each carrier's lowest filed rate class. Bundled Plan G variants excluded.
• Pairs match a carrier's two letters by NAIC code. Direct-to-consumer and guaranteed-issue classes and rows above four times the state median are excluded.
• The floor-to-floor gap is the cheapest Plan G minus the cheapest Plan N in the same county, whoever files each. Cross-state ranks compare Tennessee with the 28 state files carrying both letters at 65.
• Enrollment is the NAIC statewide count as of December 2023. The Part B premium, copay caps and deductibles are 2026 federal figures from one source file.

Anthony Orner, NPN 20586791, 1309 Route 70 West, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, 855-559-1700, licensed in Tennessee and 34 other states. MedicareYourself (EasyKind Medicare) is an independent brokerage with no affiliation to Medicare, CMS or any carrier. We do not offer every plan available in your area; contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE for all options.