You can still get a nationwide PPO in Michigan through me, even where the marketplace version costs more than double. Here is how West Michigan contractors with clients in Chicago and beyond are choosing coverage.
Hi, I'm Sam. I'm a health insurance broker working out of Tampa, licensed in 36 states, and I help people on a 1099 buy coverage of their own. Michigan contractors can do it all with me over the phone.
Here's a West Michigan example. A freelance video producer lives in Kentwood, just southeast of Grand Rapids. Her clients are a furniture maker in Zeeland, a food company in Fremont and an ad agency in Chicago that flies her to shoots in Nashville and Denver a few times a year. Every client pays her on a 1099, and none of them provides a health plan. She shops on HealthCare.gov at her Kent County address, and that's where she runs into the steepest PPO price in the state.
Kent County's marketplace is busy: 80 individual medical plans from seven insurers for 2026, made up of 63 HMOs, 8 EPOs and 9 PPOs. So a PPO exists. In Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon, though, the least expensive silver PPO costs 105% more than the least expensive silver plan of any other type, at age 40 before any subsidy. No other Michigan county has a wider gap.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in Michigan without paying that. If your health is good, I can place you in a private, underwritten plan whose network reaches Chicago, Nashville, Denver and home.
On an HMO or EPO, care outside the network is generally covered only in an emergency. A PPO keeps paying out of network, with you covering a larger share. For someone who spends a week a month in another state, that's the difference between a walk-in clinic visit being covered and being on you.
If nearly all your work and your doctors are in West Michigan, an HMO with the right local network may be all you need. If your calendar keeps you on planes, weigh the network first.
HealthCare.gov wants net self-employment income for the coverage year: your 1099 totals minus camera gear, editing software, travel you aren't reimbursed for, a home studio and the other real costs of the job. When a large project lands or a client walks, update the estimate soon after. For tax years after 2025, there's no cap on paying back credit you weren't owed.
Then HealthCare.gov is usually where the most affordable plan is, because the credit only works on plans sold there. In Kent County I'd start with the HMOs and EPOs and test each network against your doctors. Paying more than double for the marketplace PPO rarely adds up, since your credit doesn't rise to meet it. The exception is a doctor you can't replace who appears only in the PPO's network.
Next step: Send me your doctors and roughly where you travel, and I'll show you the Kent County plans that fit both.
At full price, a Grand Rapids contractor is choosing between a local HMO and a marketplace PPO priced at more than twice that. That's the situation private plans were built for. You answer medical questions; the insurer approves you, declines, or approves with a specific condition excluded. Healthy applicants often come in under the marketplace's full rate. Benefits differ by plan, and we'll go through them line by line.
Next step: Phone me and I'll lay a nationwide PPO quote beside the full marketplace price for your Kent County address.
Losing one client can cut the year in half. If your realistic estimate falls to 138% of the poverty line or lower, the Healthy Michigan Plan may cover you, and Medicaid eligibility generally rules out the marketplace credit for the same months. Note the rule change ahead: starting by January 1, 2027, many expansion adults face a federal work or community-engagement requirement. When new projects bring the income back, tell the marketplace and switch back to one of its plans.
Next step: When a big client leaves, get in touch and we'll map out the rest of your year before you switch anything.
If you take a medication you can't miss or see a specialist regularly, the marketplace is usually the right place, credit or not. Marketplace plans can't turn you down or raise your price for your health. In Kent County the work is matching your specialist to a network, since the area's big hospital systems don't all sit in every plan.
Next step: Tell me which doctors and prescriptions matter most, and I'll sort out which West Michigan plans cover them.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Yes, but in Kent County the least expensive silver PPO runs 105% above the most affordable silver plan of another type.
Generally only in an emergency. HMOs and EPOs pay outside their network only then.
It's possible. Adults qualify with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level, and a federal work requirement begins by January 1, 2027.
Yes. Healthy contractors anywhere in Michigan can buy one privately, and I'll handle it.
Tell me your county, where your main clients are based, and what your 1099s netted last year once expenses came out. I'll tell you which coverage fits and put a real price on it.
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