You can still get a nationwide PPO in Michigan through me. In Midland the marketplace PPO is priced close to its HMOs, so here is how owners of small family companies weigh the two.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I'm a health insurance broker based in Tampa, licensed in 36 states, and I help owners of small Michigan companies cover their families by phone.
Picture a couple in Midland who run a catering and bakery business out of a storefront near downtown. For years one of them kept a salaried job with one of the area's large employers, and that job carried the family's health plan. Now the business is busy enough that both want to work in it full time. They have two teenagers, one of whom plays travel hockey. The question on the table is what happens to the family's coverage when the salaried job ends, and whether the business can carry it.
Midland is a good place to be shopping. The county has 36 individual medical plans from four insurers for 2026, 27 HMOs and 9 PPOs, and the PPO is close in price. Comparing the most affordable silver plan of each type for a 40-year-old, with no subsidy applied, the PPO comes out just 9% higher. No Michigan county has a smaller gap, and Isabella next door matches it.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in Michigan through me as another option: private coverage, underwritten person by person, with providers in network nationwide. In Midland, the marketplace PPO is a real contender, so the comparison is worth doing carefully.
For an owner, the marketplace starts from what the business actually earned after flour, equipment, the van, the lease and wages for any help, plus any other household income. Help is available up to four times the federal poverty level, and a household of four has a far higher ceiling than someone single.
Sticker prices jumped this year. KFF reports Michigan's benchmark silver premium for a 40-year-old went up 29.5% from 2025 to 2026, and a family at full price feels that on every member.
Losing employer coverage gives the family 60 days to enroll on the marketplace, so there's no need to wait for open enrollment. The smart move is to start before the last day of work. Line up the numbers for the first year in the business, and have the new plan ready to begin when the old one stops.
That first full year is also the hardest to estimate, because the salary is gone and the business income is still growing. We start from what the shop netted last year and adjust for what both of you working there should add.
Next step: Call me a few weeks before the last day at the old job, and we'll have the family's next plan ready.
Then HealthCare.gov is your store, since the credit works nowhere else. In most of Michigan I'd steer a family toward an HMO and keep the savings, because the credit is set by a benchmark silver plan and doesn't grow if you pick a pricier plan. Midland is the exception worth noticing. When the PPO costs only 9% more, a family whose doctors are in its network, or who spends weekends at out-of-town hockey tournaments, may find it's a fair buy with the credit behind it.
Next step: Send over the family's doctors and a copy of last year's return, and I'll run both the Midland PPO and the HMOs against your expected credit.
Once income passes the credit line, all four of you pay the full sticker. That's when a privately underwritten plan often makes more sense for a healthy household. Everyone fills out a medical questionnaire, and the result is approval, approval minus one specific condition, or a decline. Plans set their own benefits, and we compare them carefully.
Next step: Phone me, and you'll see a nationwide PPO quote for all four of you set against Midland County's unsubsidized prices.
That doesn't have to decide everyone's coverage. The family member with ongoing care usually belongs on a marketplace plan, which can't refuse anyone or charge more for health, chosen for the network that keeps their specialist. Healthy family members may be priced privately.
Next step: Give me each person's doctors and prescriptions, and I'll compare a split household with an all-marketplace plan.
Hiring someone outside the family who doesn't own part of the business can make you eligible for SHOP, the small-business marketplace, and a group plan. Whether it's worth it depends on the employee and your budget.
Next step: Call me before the new hire's first day, and we'll compare group coverage against the family's individual plans.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Not by Michigan standards. The least expensive silver PPO there costs 9% more than the least expensive silver HMO, the smallest gap in the state.
Losing employer coverage opens a 60-day window to enroll on the marketplace.
Through SHOP, once there's an employee on payroll who is neither an owner nor a relative.
Yes. If the household is healthy, I can arrange private nationwide PPO coverage for you.
Send the county, each family member's age, a rough figure for business profit, and whether anyone is leaving a job that has benefits. You'll get both options priced and my honest pick.
The guide for every state, and other work I help with