You can still get a nationwide PPO in Florida, even when the marketplace's own PPO costs nearly twice as much as the lowest-priced plans. Here's how welders working for themselves in Florida are getting covered.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a health insurance broker working out of Tampa. I'm licensed in 36 states and I handle it all by phone, so we can talk from a dock, a job trailer or the cab of your rig.
Florida has plenty of work for a welder with a truck: marine and dock repairs, seawalls, fabrication shops, structural jobs on new buildings, and the repair work that follows a hurricane. A lot of welders start out in a shop or a yard with a group plan, then go mobile because the money's better. The plan doesn't come along. Here's how Florida welders on their own are dealing with that.
You can still get a nationwide PPO in Florida. For a healthy welder, it can cost less than you'd expect.
The marketplace is what scares people off. Florida has a single PPO on HealthCare.gov, from one insurer, sold in all 67 counties. Next to the lowest-priced plan with a different network in the same county, it's about double the price. Out in the Panhandle it costs 98% more in Escambia County, 98% more in Bay and 102% more in Okaloosa.
There's another route. Private underwritten plans use PPO networks that run nationwide and set your price based on your health. If you're healthy and you take jobs in Alabama or Georgia, that's the comparison to make.
HealthCare.gov is how Floridians buy marketplace coverage, and the help it gives is a premium tax credit tied to your household's income for the year. For a mobile welder, that's net: what's left after the truck note, fuel, rods and wire, gas bottles, grinders and discs, equipment and liability coverage. A strong day rate can still leave a net that qualifies.
It matters more this year than most. Florida's insurance regulator says approved rates for 2026 individual plans went up an average of 34.1%, weighted by enrollment and figured before subsidies. Get the credit and much of that is covered. Miss it and the whole increase is yours.
If your current job gives you health coverage, leaving usually ends it. Losing that plan is a qualifying event, so you'll generally get 60 days to enroll in a HealthCare.gov plan, whatever the month. If you go on COBRA, don't drop it early by choice, because that doesn't open a new window. Running out of COBRA does.
If you're aiming at an underwritten plan, start a few weeks before your last shift, because approval takes time.
One more reminder for a trade full of burns, flash and heavy lifting: workers' comp covers injuries on the job. It is not health insurance and won't pay for an illness or your family's care.
Next step: Call me before your last day and we'll have coverage set to start when the shop plan ends.
A lot of Florida welders running one rig land here. If you do, a HealthCare.gov plan is usually the most affordable coverage you can get, since the credit can't be used on plans sold anywhere else.
The lower-priced plans in most Florida counties are HMOs and EPOs with regional networks. If you mostly work near home, that's often fine. If you travel for jobs out of state, understand that routine care away from home may not be covered, so plan checkups for when you're back.
And watch your estimate. A long dock project or a post-storm rush can make your year bigger than you guessed. Update HealthCare.gov when that happens, or part of the credit may be due when you file.
Next step: Send me last year's return and your upcoming jobs, and I'll help you set an estimate and pick a plan for your county.
Experienced welders with steady contracts can clear the credit range easily. Then it's full price after the 34.1% average increase, and the only marketplace PPO costs about twice what the local plans do.
For a healthy household, an underwritten nationwide PPO is worth pricing. The application asks about your health, and the insurer can say yes, say no, or say yes with a condition excluded. That's the reason a healthy applicant can often pay less than the marketplace's full rate. Each plan has its own benefits, so I walk you through what's covered first.
Next step: Call me and I'll put a nationwide PPO quote next to the marketplace plans in your county, side by side.
If you or your family needs ongoing care or a daily prescription, the marketplace is the safer place, even without the credit. HealthCare.gov plans have to accept you and can't charge more for your health. Underwritten plans can turn you down.
In Florida that usually means choosing between a regional HMO or EPO and the one marketplace PPO. If your doctors are local, the regional plan may keep them for less. If a specialist is out of state, the PPO could be worth it. We'll check your doctors and medications one at a time.
Next step: Send me your doctors and prescriptions and I'll find the Florida plans in your county that cover them.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Your employer plan usually ends when you leave. Losing it typically gives you 60 days to enroll in a HealthCare.gov plan. If you're healthy and earn too much for the credit, an underwritten nationwide PPO is worth pricing too.
There's one, offered by a single insurer, and in the Panhandle it runs roughly double the lowest-priced alternative. A nationwide PPO outside the marketplace is often more affordable for healthy welders.
Plan carefully. Florida hasn't adopted the Medicaid expansion, and the marketplace credit generally starts at the poverty line, so a year with very little income can leave you in between. Call me before you apply.
Only for injuries on the job. You still need a health plan for illness, routine care and your family.
Let me know your county, who's on your plan and about what you cleared after truck and equipment costs last year. I'll show you which way to go and what it runs, and if your current coverage already fits, I'll say so.
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