You can still get a nationwide PPO in Delaware through me. Here is how a nurse who rents near the University of Delaware and works contracts up and down I-95 keeps coverage between assignments.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I'm a broker licensed in 36 states, and Delaware travel nurses set up their coverage with me by phone, usually between shifts.
The nurse I'm thinking of rents a townhouse off Main Street in Newark. She worked telemetry at a Delaware hospital for five years, then went travel. Her contracts lately have been in Baltimore and Washington, close enough that she sometimes drives home on her days off, with a Philadelphia assignment lined up for spring. Agency coverage usually starts a little after each contract does and ends with it, and she's had two gaps already. She also keeps a marketplace plan in her back pocket for the months she takes off.
Every Delawarean shops the same marketplace list for 2026, and it's short: three insurers, 40 individual medical plans, and each plan type (EPO, PPO, HMO) belongs to a different company. Ranked by the lowest silver price for a 40-year-old with no credit, the PPO comes last, at 6% over the HMO and 18% over the EPO.
Through me, a nationwide PPO is still on the table for Delaware nurses. It's a private plan, priced after a review of your health, and for a traveler its value is simple: the same card in Newark, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia.
Each time a contract and its agency plan end, you've lost job-based coverage, which can qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period. The window runs 60 days before the loss and 60 days after it, so a marketplace plan can be ready before your last shift.
Network type matters more for you than for most buyers. EPOs and HMOs generally pay only for in-network care outside an emergency; a PPO pays outside its network too, with more of the bill on you. And 2027 is a reset year: only two insurance companies appear in the state's 2027 rate approvals, and the one that sold all of 2026's EPOs isn't on it.
Ask the next agency, in writing, the date its coverage begins. If there's a gap, apply on HealthCare.gov inside your Special Enrollment window and pick a plan that starts the day after the agency plan stops. For weeks spent at home in Newark, a plan built around Delaware providers may be all you need. For weeks you'll spend driving to a new city, check how it handles care away from home.
Next step: Send me the end and start dates, and I'll find the least expensive way to cover the gap.
A year of back-to-back contracts can lift your income past four times the poverty line, and then you'd pay the marketplace's full price. Those full prices took a big step up for 2026, with KFF measuring a 29.4% rise in Delaware's average benchmark silver plan for a 40-year-old. That's the moment to price a private nationwide PPO. Underwriting comes first: you answer health questions, and the result is a yes, a yes minus one condition, or a no. Healthy nurses often beat the marketplace's full price, and you'd carry one plan through every contract. We'll go through benefits plan by plan first.
Next step: Call me between assignments, and I'll quote a nationwide PPO against Delaware's unsubsidized plans.
A few months off can bring the year into the credit range. With the credit, a marketplace plan is usually the most affordable way to cover those months. For 2027, with the EPO company gone, you'll be weighing the HMO against the PPO. If you're mostly home in Newark, the HMO may serve you fine; if you'll be picking up short contracts in other cities, the PPO's out-of-network coverage earns more of its 6% premium.
Next step: Give me a revised income estimate and your doctors, and I'll price the 2027 HMO and PPO with the credit once plans post.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Yes. Losing agency coverage can qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period that opens 60 days before the loss.
The company that sold every 2026 EPO isn't on the Insurance Department's 2027 rate list, so expect to choose between the HMO and PPO companies.
A lot. KFF's benchmark figure for a 40-year-old was up 29.4% between 2025 and 2026.
Yes. Nurses who pass the health review can get one from me that follows them to every assignment.
Give me your contract end date, the next start date, the agency plan's first day and a rough number for this year's pay. I'll cover every week in between and show you a nationwide PPO for the long run.
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