From Tarpon Springs down to the Skyway, a lot of Pinellas runs on seasonal money. I help people here pick coverage that still makes sense in August, when the tourists are gone.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I'm a licensed health insurance broker based across the bay in Tampa, and I work with a lot of people in Pinellas, the most crowded county in Florida. Clearwater is the county seat, St. Petersburg is the big city, and in between are a lot of folks who work for themselves.
Charter captains, short-term rental cleaners, bartenders who own a piece of the bar, hairdressers renting a chair in Dunedin. Most of that happens over the phone, which is also how I serve clients across the 36 states where I hold a license. For the wider bay, see my Tampa page.
The marketplace PPO here is priced out of reach for most people, and only one company offers it. That isn't the only door. A private PPO with a nationwide network is available through me, and if you're healthy and paying full price, it's worth a quote before anything else.
The first is your income for the whole year, not your best month. That number decides whether you get a tax credit at all.
The second is the price of a PPO. The federal plan file shows 149 medical plans in Pinellas from 6 insurance companies, and just 14 of them are PPOs. For a 40-year-old on silver, the least expensive one costs 138% more than the least expensive silver plan with a different network. On top of that, Florida's regulator approved individual rates that rose 34.1% on average for 2026, before subsidies.
So the question I start with is simple: will your year's income land inside the credit range or above it?
Picture a captain who runs fishing charters out of Madeira Beach. Winter and spring are packed. Late summer is thin, and a storm can wipe out a whole week. His wife waits tables part of the year.
If they apply in a busy month and project that pace for twelve months, they'll overstate their income and maybe miss a credit they qualify for. If they apply in a dead month, they'll understate it and owe money back at tax time. The fix is boring but it works: we add up last year's real deposits, adjust for what's booked, and pick a figure that survives April.
If that figure is inside the credit range, a marketplace HMO or EPO near home is usually the most affordable answer.
Next step: Bring me last year's income and this year's bookings, and we'll pick an estimate before you choose a plan.
Good seasons can push a household past the point where any credit applies. That's when full marketplace prices hurt, and when a private plan earns a look. A private PPO looks at your medical history before it says yes, so it may approve you, decline you, or exclude one condition. For a healthy family, the trade is often a lower monthly cost and a network that works outside Florida too.
If your doctors are at Bayfront in St. Pete or Mease Countryside in Safety Harbor, we check them in each network before you pick.
Next step: Call me for both prices at once: a private PPO and the full marketplace rate for your Pinellas ZIP code.
This one catches people off guard. The tax credit generally starts at the federal poverty level, and Florida hasn't expanded Medicaid, so a really bad year can leave you with neither. If a slow season or a hurricane puts you near that line, it's worth planning before you file, not after.
Next step: If you think your income could fall that low, call me and we'll look at the options while there's still time to plan.
You call or book a time. I ask about your household, your income pattern, and the doctors you want to keep. Then I tell you which way I'd go and show you the numbers. There's no fee; the insurer pays me, and your price is the same with or without me.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
The federal plan file shows 149 individual medical plans from 6 insurance companies. Of those, 14 are PPOs, and all 14 come from the same company.
Start from last year's actual income, then adjust for what you know about this year. Guessing from one good or bad month is how people end up repaying credits or missing them.
Yes, two ways. There's the marketplace PPO, which is expensive here, and there's a private nationwide PPO for people in good health, which I can quote.
No. Almost all of my work is by phone or video, and you can sign everything from home.
Give me your city, the people on the plan, and your busy-season and slow-season income. I'll show you what each path costs over a full year, not just in March.
Guides by line of work and by state