You can still get a nationwide PPO in Utah, even though the marketplace sells none. Here is how vacation-rental investors with seasonal income and only a couple of local insurers choose coverage.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a Tampa-based health insurance broker licensed in 36 states. Utah landlords and property managers, from Moab and Kanab to Ogden and Logan, can set up their coverage with me by phone.
Consider a couple who own three cabins outside Moab, booked mostly by mountain bikers and park visitors. April, May, September and October pay the bills. July is too hot and January too quiet. One year a canyon road closure kills a month of bookings; the next, a festival weekend fills every bed. What lands on their tax return after cleaners, platform commissions, hot-tub repairs, interest and depreciation can vary by tens of percent from year to year, and their health coverage should move with it.
Grand County's exchange shoppers see two insurers this year, part of a statewide lineup of 57 individual medical plans that includes 37 HMOs, 20 EPOs and no PPO at all.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in Utah, outside the exchange; I set it up. It's priced after a health review and covers providers in every state, worth having in a remote county where serious specialty care can mean a drive to Grand Junction or Salt Lake City.
HealthCare.gov counts what rentals net, plus most IRA and 401(k) withdrawals. Because landlords generally report rentals on Schedule E, turnover cleaning, management, platform fees, repairs, loan interest and depreciation all come off first.
From there, Utah gives this couple three possible bands:
A vacation-rental owner rarely has two identical years, so the right coverage rarely stays the same either. Review it each fall, once you can see how bookings and expenses are tracking, rather than letting last year's plan renew on autopilot.
With two insurers, there are two provider lists to choose from, and HMOs and EPOs typically pay outside their own list only in emergencies. If the doctors you'd use for anything serious are in Colorado or up north, check whether either list includes them before you enroll.
A lost month of bookings can drop the year's net low enough for Utah Medicaid. Apply if the realistic number lands there; if a strong fall rescues the year, report the change and move to a marketplace plan.
Next step: Once your preparer has a rough read on the year, call me and we'll see which band it falls in.
Most years land in the credit range, where a marketplace plan built around the right one of your two networks usually costs least. If bookings run hotter than expected, update HealthCare.gov; from tax year 2026 forward, excess credit comes back in full when you file.
Next step: Tell me the season's numbers and your doctors, and I'll help you pick the better of Grand County's two networks.
A record season or a sale can push you past the credit range. If you're healthy, a private nationwide PPO is worth pricing: an underwriter reviews your answers, then offers coverage, declines, or offers it with one condition excluded. Anyone in the household with ongoing care needs is better kept on the exchange regardless.
Next step: After a big year, or before a sale closes, call me for a private PPO quote set against Grand County's full-price plans.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Yes. What the rentals net after cleaning, management, repairs and depreciation counts as household income.
Two for 2026.
Possibly, if household income lands at or below 138% of the federal poverty level, the adult limit KFF lists for Utah.
No. Its 57 individual medical plans are HMOs and EPOs. Healthy investors can buy a nationwide PPO privately through me.
Tell me roughly how bookings went, what the cleaners, platforms and repairs cost, and who's on your plan. I'll show you which of Utah's three income bands you're in and what to buy.
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