You can still get a nationwide PPO in Mississippi, even though the marketplace sells none. Here is what this year's steep price jump means for an agent paying full price, and what to compare it against.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I work from Tampa as a licensed broker in 36 states, and Mississippi agents, from Ocean Springs and Gulfport to Ridgeland and Southaven, can set up their own coverage with me over the phone.
Picture an agent in Ocean Springs with a great run of second-home and retiree sales. Her net commission clears the range where the marketplace's tax credit helps, so she sees the full price for herself and her husband. This year that full price climbed fast: KFF's benchmark premium for a 40-year-old in Mississippi rose 36.5% from 2025 to 2026, one of the bigger jumps in the country. And when she looks for a PPO, there isn't one.
Mississippi's marketplace carries 48 individual medical plans for 2026: 38 HMOs and 10 EPOs. No PPO is sold on HealthCare.gov anywhere in the state.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in Mississippi, arranged privately through me. The premium comes from a health questionnaire, and the network spans the country, so a specialist in New Orleans or Mobile, or a doctor near family in Texas, counts as in network without a referral.
The benchmark KFF tracks is the second-lowest-cost silver plan for a 40-year-old, and in Mississippi it rose 36.5% in a single year. Agents who receive the credit are largely protected, since the credit moves with the benchmark. An agent past the credit range takes the whole increase, for every person on the plan.
Then there's what the money buys. Mississippi's HMOs and EPOs generally pay outside their own networks only in emergencies. On the Gulf Coast, Harrison and Jackson counties each have 4 marketplace insurers, so there are networks to compare, but none of them is a PPO and none is built to follow you across state lines.
Coastal agents often have clients and family spread across Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, and many spend part of the year traveling for the business. That pattern runs straight into how Mississippi's marketplace plans are built. An HMO or EPO that works well for a household that rarely leaves Harrison County can feel very limited for one that's in New Orleans one weekend and Destin the next. Before renewing, it's worth being honest about where your family actually gets care.
This is where the private route tends to win. A carrier reads your health answers, then approves the application, declines it, or approves it with one diagnosis written out. Healthy agents often pay less than the marketplace's unsubsidized price and get a national network along with it.
Next step: Send me your county and everyone's ages, and I'll put a private PPO price beside what the marketplace charges you at full cost.
A chronic condition flips the answer for that person. Marketplace plans have to enroll everyone without charging more for health history, which a private plan doesn't promise. Keep that family member on the marketplace and choose the HMO or EPO whose network includes their specialists.
Next step: Name the doctors and prescriptions involved, and I'll find the Mississippi plans in your county that include them.
If next year's closings could fall into the credit range, the marketplace with the credit usually becomes the more economical choice again. If they could fall very low, be careful: Mississippi hasn't adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion, so there's little underneath a bad year. And if you do take the credit and then close more than you expected, update HealthCare.gov, since for tax years after 2025 the excess is repaid without a cap.
Next step: Walk me through the pipeline for next year, and we'll pick coverage for the year you're most likely to have.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
KFF's benchmark premium for a 40-year-old in Mississippi rose 36.5% from 2025 to 2026. Agents without the credit pay that increase in full.
No. Its 48 individual medical plans are HMOs and EPOs. A healthy agent can still buy a nationwide PPO privately through me.
Harrison and Jackson counties each have 4 for 2026.
No. Mississippi hasn't adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion.
Tell me your county, the ages of everyone on your plan, and roughly what you netted after splits last year. I'll set a private PPO quote next to the marketplace's unsubsidized price.
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