You can still get a nationwide PPO in Georgia, wherever Georgia Access sells none. Here is how people paid on a 1099 are picking coverage in a state with a narrow Medicaid program.
Hi, I'm Sam. Contractors all over Georgia, from framing crews in Douglasville to web designers in Athens, can set up their coverage with me by phone. I'm a broker licensed in 36 states, working out of Tampa.
Paid on a 1099 in Georgia, you're dealing with three local realities: Georgia Access instead of HealthCare.gov, a marketplace PPO that skips more than half the state's counties, and a Medicaid program that only partly fills the bottom of the income ladder.
Out of 211 individual medical plans on Georgia Access this year, 203 are HMOs. The remaining 8 are PPOs from one insurer, available in 71 of the state's 159 counties. Live in one of the other 88 and your only choices limit routine care to a local network, with outside visits generally paid only in emergencies.
Wherever you live in Georgia, you can still get a nationwide PPO by going private, and I set that up. The plan is underwritten, its price comes from your health, and its network stretches across state lines, which suits work that does too.
Georgia Access figures your credit from household income for the coverage year. On a 1099, that's gross receipts less the real costs of the trade: tools, truck, materials, software, phone and insurance, plus whatever a spouse earns.
The bottom rung is where Georgia differs. It never took the ACA expansion. What it has is Georgia Pathways, capped at 100% of the poverty level and conditioned on meeting a monthly work or activity rule. The exchange's credit generally starts right at that same line, leaving a hole for anyone below it who doesn't qualify for Pathways.
Use Georgia Access; the credit can't follow you anywhere else. If yours is one of the 71 PPO counties, that plan is on your menu. If not, line up your doctors against each HMO's list.
Georgia Access takes sign-ups for 2027 starting November 1, 2026. Get in by December 15 and the plan starts January 1; the window closes January 15, 2027.
Next step: Pull your 1099 totals and main expenses together, and I'll turn them into an estimate and a plan your doctors are part of.
Full-price HMOs aren't much of a bargain for someone whose jobs move around. A private nationwide PPO usually earns a look here.
The process: medical questions on the application, then the insurer issues the policy, says no, or issues it with a condition carved out. Healthy applicants frequently pay under Georgia Access's full price and keep coverage on every job site. Each policy lists its own benefits, which we'll walk through.
Next step: Get a nationwide PPO quote from me for the whole household, with your county's exchange prices beside it.
A lost client can push income toward the poverty line. Go below it and the exchange credit generally ends, while Pathways only helps if you meet its work or activity rule. One new contract can change the picture, so forecast the rest of the year before you apply.
Next step: When the year turns lean, talk to me before enrolling and we'll pin down exactly what your household can get.
Georgia's own continuation rule is about as short as they come: the remainder of the month you lose coverage plus three more policy months. Bigger employers offer COBRA instead. Losing employer coverage also opens a special enrollment period on Georgia Access.
That short continuation window is the reason to arrange the next plan before your final paycheck.
Next step: A few weeks out from your last day, call me and we'll weigh continuation, a Georgia Access plan and a private PPO.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Only in the 71 counties where it's offered. Elsewhere, a healthy contractor can still buy a nationwide PPO on the private market with my help.
Only partly. There's no full expansion; Georgia Pathways is capped at 100% of the poverty level and tied to a monthly work or activity rule.
The remainder of the month coverage ends, plus three more policy months.
Sign-ups for 2027 open November 1, 2026 and close January 15, 2027. December 15 is the cutoff for a January 1 start.
Your county, who needs coverage, and a ballpark of what the 1099 work netted. With that I'll tell you which way to go in Georgia and what it will cost.
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