Who is leaving, what's left in your county, and what to do before the deadline. Last checked October 5, 2026.
One insurance company is leaving the Delaware marketplace for 2027.
Altogether, 3 of Delaware's 3 counties lose at least one marketplace insurer.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, and Delaware is one of the 36 states where I'm licensed to sell health insurance. Ambetter Health of Delaware is leaving the marketplace when 2026 ends, and in a state this small that touches everyone. Delaware has one marketplace list for all three counties, so a family in Wilmington, a retiree in Lewes and a farmer outside Dover were all choosing from the same three companies. Next year it's two.
The Insurance Department's 2027 rate announcement backs that up: it approves marketplace rates for two companies, and Ambetter isn't one of them.
If you're on an Ambetter plan, you need a new plan for 2027. Ambetter was the only company in Delaware selling EPO plans, all 17 of them, so you aren't just changing companies. You're changing plan types. The two companies that remain sell an HMO and a PPO. An HMO generally keeps you in its network the way your EPO did. A PPO also pays for doctors outside its network, at a higher cost to you, and it usually costs more each month.
Some of you have done this before. Aetna stopped selling Delaware marketplace plans for 2026, and anyone who moved from Aetna to Ambetter is now facing a second forced move in two years. This time, choose the plan yourself rather than waiting to see where the marketplace puts you.
Before December 15, list your doctors, your hospital and your prescriptions, then check them against both remaining networks. If you see a specialist in Philadelphia, Baltimore or Salisbury, check that practice by name in each network. With only two companies left on the marketplace, a nationwide PPO is worth pricing too if you're healthy and pay full price.
Different state? Pick yours here.
These are the 3 Delaware counties where at least one marketplace insurer is leaving. For each one you can see who's leaving, how many marketplace insurers are left, and which ones.
On the marketplace, PPO plans were sold in 3 of Delaware's 3 counties in 2026, and all 3 of those counties still have one after the exits. Those PPO plans come from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware.
| County | Insurer leaving | Insurers left | Who's left (2026 plans) | Marketplace PPO after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | Ambetter (Centene) | 2 | AmeriHealth Caritas; Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware | Yes |
| New Castle | Ambetter (Centene) | 2 | AmeriHealth Caritas; Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware | Yes |
| Sussex | Ambetter (Centene) | 2 | AmeriHealth Caritas; Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware | Yes |
County data: CMS 2026 marketplace plan data source. Insurers are counted by company, and the table uses each company's 2026 service area, so a company that enters or expands for 2027 isn't counted yet. I'll update it when the 2027 plan list publishes in late October.
A few other names come up in the news about this. Here's where each one actually stands.
When an insurance company leaves, your plan doesn't stop overnight. It runs through December 31, 2026, and the company has to tell you in writing first. Federal rules require at least 90 calendar days notice when a company drops a plan, and at least 180 calendar days when it leaves a state's individual market entirely. If your company is leaving and you haven't seen that letter, call the company and ask for it.
What happens next is the part people get wrong. If no plan from your company is left on the marketplace, the federal rule (45 CFR 155.335) says the marketplace may move you to a plan from a different company. It doesn't say it will. The move has to fit state law, it follows the state regulator's direction, and without that direction the marketplace picks a "similar" plan. Nothing in that rule checks your doctors or your prescriptions.
If you bought your plan straight from the company, off the marketplace, the marketplace's re-enrollment rule doesn't reach you at all. You need to pick a new plan yourself.
Open enrollment on HealthCare.gov starts November 1. By then you should get 2 letters: one from your current company and one from the marketplace. The marketplace letter tells you which plan, if any, you'll be moved into if you do nothing by December 15. HealthCare.gov is plain that in some cases you won't be automatically re-enrolled.
Pick by December 15 and your new plan starts January 1. Pick between December 16 and January 15 and it starts February 1, which leaves January uncovered if your old plan ended December 31.
Miss open enrollment and you may still have a way in. Losing a plan because it's discontinued is on HealthCare.gov's list of qualifying events, and the federal rule gives you 60 days before and 60 days after the day your old coverage ends to pick a new plan. Don't build your plan around that window. Confirm you qualify before you count on it.
Here's how I'd think about it, depending on where you are. Each path ends the same way: a call with me before the deadline.
If you earn too much for the credit, you're paying the full marketplace price, and now you're paying it for whatever is left in your county. You have another option. Private plans with medical underwriting run on nationwide PPO networks and are priced on your health, which is how the price for a healthy person can come in under the marketplace's full rate. They ask health questions up front, and the company can decline you or leave out a past condition, so we go through the details together before you choose.
Next step: Call me and I'll price a nationwide PPO for your household next to the Delaware marketplace plans in your county.
Whatever the marketplace looks like in your county, you can still get a nationwide PPO in Delaware through me. On the marketplace, PPO plans were sold in 3 of Delaware's 3 counties in 2026, and all 3 of those counties still have one after the exits. Those PPO plans come from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware.
Private PPO plans with medical underwriting use networks that work across the country, and for a healthy person who pays full price on the marketplace, they're often worth pricing. I'm licensed in 36 states, and Delaware is one of them.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Ambetter Health of Delaware (confirmed). Altogether, 3 of Delaware's 3 counties lose at least one marketplace insurer.
Maybe, but don't count on it. The federal rule says the marketplace may move you to a similar plan from a different company, as state law and your state regulator allow. HealthCare.gov says that in some cases you won't be automatically re-enrolled, and if you bought off the marketplace, nobody moves you. Pick your own plan.
On HealthCare.gov, pick by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1. Open enrollment runs to January 15, but a plan picked after December 15 starts February 1.
Yes. You can still get a nationwide PPO in Delaware through me. On the marketplace, PPO plans were sold in 3 of Delaware's 3 counties in 2026, and all 3 of those counties still have one after the exits. Those PPO plans come from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware.
Last checked October 5, 2026. I update this page when the 2027 plan list publishes in late October.
Tell me your county, who's on your plan and what your letter says. I'll show you what's left on the Delaware marketplace, price a nationwide PPO next to it, and help you pick before the deadline. I'm licensed in 36 states and work by phone.
Every state on the list, and guides for Delaware