You can still obtain nationwide PPO coverage in Colorado, despite the marketplace offering none in any county during 2026. Here's how a Douglas County contractor facing the loss of his current plan can prepare for next year.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I'm a licensed Colorado health insurance broker who works entirely over the phone, making it easier for builders juggling job sites and trips to the lumber yard.
Consider a contractor who owns a small custom home building and remodeling business in Castle Rock. His projects follow development along I-25, from new construction near Franktown and Larkspur to basement renovations in Highlands Ranch and additions or decks in Parker and The Meadows. He employs two carpenters and hires subcontractors for everything else. His wife manages estimates and office work, and they're raising two teenagers. Then a notice arrives this fall: their health insurer is withdrawing from Colorado's individual market. Their family policy ends December 31, leaving them to find replacement coverage for 2027.
My first point to that household would be simple: nationwide PPO coverage is still something I can arrange in Colorado, provided you complete the health questions.
Consider the 2026 marketplace choices in Colorado. No county offered a PPO. In Douglas County, shoppers had 91 medical plans from 5 insurers, consisting of 66 HMOs and 25 EPOs. Of those EPOs, fourteen came from the departing insurer, leaving 4 companies in this year's lineup offering HMO and EPO coverage. Those plan types generally restrict nonemergency benefits to their networks. PPO coverage, by contrast, also pays toward out-of-network care. That difference deserves attention if your family sees specialists in Denver, takes ski trips to Summit County or has a child attending college outside Colorado.
Your current policy is disappearing just as replacement premiums are increasing. According to the Colorado Division of Insurance, finalized 2027 individual rates are rising 10% statewide and 10.8% in rating area 3, which covers metropolitan Denver and Douglas County. Your replacement insurer will charge its 2027 premiums rather than the current year's prices. For more about the departing carriers, read which insurance companies are leaving the Colorado marketplace.
Next, we need to calculate your company's actual profit. For a builder, start with draws and construction progress payments, then subtract subcontractors, materials such as lumber and concrete, vehicles, machinery, permits, liability insurance and builder's risk coverage. Your household's estimated net income for 2027 determines premium assistance, not the gross revenue earned this year.
When construction projects finish and close as expected, your household might earn beyond the assistance limits. That means paying the entire 2027 premium for Douglas County marketplace coverage. I'd then compare a medically underwritten nationwide PPO. Each applicant answers health questions, and the insurer can approve the policy, approve it while excluding a prior condition or decline it. Healthy households frequently find lower premiums than the marketplace's full price, along with a network extending beyond the Front Range. If someone is receiving treatment, tell me. It doesn't automatically determine the outcome, and I'll compare both options.
Next step: Give me your family's birth years and the names of your doctors. I'll compare a nationwide PPO quote with the unsubsidized Douglas County marketplace plans.
Builders often face this situation while managing three or four signed projects and bidding on another couple. Open enrollment is November 1 through January 15, but December 15 is the deadline for January 1 coverage. That's especially important when your existing plan ends December 31. Work with your accountant to project income realistically, enroll before the deadline to prevent a coverage gap and revise the estimate when contracts are signed or canceled.
Next step: Give me a call in early December with your active contracts and your accountant's income projection. We'll arrange coverage that begins January 1.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
No. All 91 marketplace medical plans available in Douglas County during 2026 were HMOs or EPOs.
Yes. Anyone currently insured through the company exiting Colorado's market must choose replacement coverage for 2027.
According to the Colorado Division of Insurance, premiums in rating area 3, including Douglas County, are increasing 10.8%.
December 15 is the deadline. Although open enrollment continues until January 15, coverage selected afterward begins February 1.
Tell me your county, who needs coverage, which doctors your family visits between Castle Rock and Denver, and this year's business profit. I'll compare Douglas County marketplace prices with a nationwide PPO.
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