You can still get a nationwide PPO in South Carolina through me. Here is how contractors in Aiken and North Augusta, whose clients and doctors are often across the Savannah River in Georgia, are choosing coverage.
Hi, I'm Sam. I broker health insurance out of Tampa under licenses in 36 states, and people paid on 1099s make up a big share of the folks I help. South Carolina contractors can work with me entirely by phone.
Here's an Aiken County scene. A safety and environmental consultant lives in North Augusta and works on contract for a handful of firms, some near the Savannah River Site and some across the bridge in Augusta, Georgia. His dentist, his doctor and the urgent care he trusts are all on the Georgia side, ten minutes from his house. Until last spring he was on staff at a small engineering firm. Now he's on his own, and he shops on HealthCare.gov as a South Carolina resident.
Aiken County has 43 individual medical plans for 2026 from three insurers: 21 HMOs, 13 EPOs and 9 PPOs. The PPO's markup here is milder than in much of the state. For a 40-year-old before any subsidy, the least expensive silver PPO costs 22% more than the least expensive silver HMO, and just 10% more than the HMO sold by its own insurer.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in South Carolina through me too, a private plan priced on your health, with Augusta's doctors in network the same as Aiken's.
HMOs and EPOs generally pay outside their network only in an emergency. A PPO pays out of network too, with more of the bill on you. So for a contractor who lives in South Carolina but gets care in Augusta, the first check on any plan is simple: is my doctor in this network, and is the urgent care I actually use? Price comes second.
The marketplace asks for net self-employment income for the coverage year: 1099 totals minus your vehicle, field equipment, safety gear, software, insurance and the other costs of the work. Update it soon after a contract starts or stops.
South Carolina's floor is different from many states. It hasn't expanded Medicaid. KFF lists the parent limit at 67% of the poverty level, adults without children generally can't qualify, and the marketplace credit generally starts at 100%. A contractor between clients can fall into that gap, so a lean year needs a careful estimate.
If your old employer had fewer than 20 employees, South Carolina's continuation law may let you keep that group plan for the rest of the policy month plus six more months, provided you'd been on it at least six months. You pay the full premium. Losing job coverage also opens a marketplace enrollment window, so compare both before you choose.
Next step: Call me before your last day at the firm, and we'll compare continuing the old plan with a new one.
The credit only works on HealthCare.gov, so buy there. In Aiken, the PPO is close enough in price that it deserves a real look. The credit is tied to a benchmark silver plan, so you'd pay its extra 22% yourself, but if your Augusta doctor isn't in the HMO or EPO networks, the PPO's out-of-network coverage can be worth it. That's a reasonable buy with the credit behind it.
Next step: Send me your Georgia doctors and your net, and I'll price each Aiken plan with your credit and their network status.
At full price, a private plan often makes more sense for a healthy contractor. You answer a medical questionnaire, and the result is an approval, an approval with one condition excluded, or a decline. Healthy applicants often pay less than the marketplace's full rate, on a network that doesn't stop at the river. Every plan sets its own benefits, and we compare them carefully.
Next step: Phone me and I'll set a nationwide PPO quote beside the full HealthCare.gov prices for Aiken County.
With a medication you can't skip or a specialist you see regularly, stay on HealthCare.gov even at full price. Its plans take everyone and can't charge you more for your health. Choose the plan whose network includes your specialist, on whichever side of the river they practice.
Next step: List your doctors and prescriptions, and I'll find the Aiken County plans that keep them.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Only if that doctor is in the plan's network, or in an emergency.
The least expensive silver PPO costs 22% more than the least expensive silver HMO.
If the employer had fewer than 20 employees and you'd been covered six months, state law may let you continue it for the rest of the policy month plus six months.
Yes. Healthy contractors can buy one privately through me.
Let me know your county, where your clients and doctors are, and what your 1099s netted after expenses last year. You'll get a straight recommendation and a price for it.
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