Even with furnace repair calls filling your schedule, you can enroll in health coverage and still find a nationwide PPO in Indiana. Here's how self-employed heating and cooling contractors are managing both during the busy season.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. I specialize exclusively in brokering health insurance and hold an Indiana license. Since we work over the phone, we can get things handled through a few brief conversations between service calls.
Indiana HVAC owners know what happens when the first serious fall cold front arrives: furnace calls start piling up. By December, there's barely room in the schedule. Unfortunately, that busy period overlaps with health insurance open enrollment. Some contractors end up missing the cutoff because they're still fixing heating systems in basements at nine at night. I want to help you avoid that situation and understand your coverage choices before the deadline arrives.
Indiana residents can still access nationwide PPO coverage. You're not restricted to the plans or enrollment schedule offered through the marketplace.
Indiana's marketplace choices are fairly narrow. In 2026, 5 insurers offer 80 individual medical plans throughout the state's 92 counties. Those include 45 HMOs, 33 EPOs and 2 POS plans, but zero PPOs. HMOs and EPOs typically exclude nonemergency care outside their networks. PPOs, by contrast, provide benefits for outside providers at greater cost to you and don't require referrals. You can find nationwide PPO networks through private medically underwritten coverage, with premiums determined by your health.
HealthCare.gov accepts open enrollment applications from November 1 through January 15. To have coverage effective January 1, you must select your policy no later than December 15. Those dates fall squarely in the middle of Indiana's busiest heating season.
I'd handle enrollment early in November, before your service calendar fills. Your income projection should reflect next year's net self-employment earnings after expenses like vehicles, equipment, parts, refrigerant, licensing, insurance and employee pay. If those numbers change, update the estimate promptly.
This is exactly the kind of business owner I'm speaking to. When your household is eligible for a federal premium tax credit, HealthCare.gov coverage will almost always cost less than private insurance because private premiums can't use that credit. We can cover three important decisions in a quick early November phone call:
Next step: Let's talk in early November and finish your enrollment before furnace repairs start consuming your entire schedule.
When your company's earnings put your family beyond the premium credit range, marketplace coverage means paying full price for a regional network. Healthy households should consider a medically underwritten nationwide PPO too. The insurer reviews your medical questionnaire before accepting the policy, declining it, or approving it with one condition excluded. Good health can make these premiums lower than full marketplace prices. We'll compare each policy's actual benefits together.
Next step: Tell me your county and the ages of your family members. I'll show you what a nationwide PPO costs compared with Indiana marketplace coverage.
A warmer-than-usual winter may leave your heating company with less income. If household earnings fall to 138% of the federal poverty level or below, you may qualify for Medicaid expansion coverage through the Healthy Indiana Plan. Any workers' compensation policy you carry applies only to workplace injuries.
Next step: If that describes your year, give me a call and we'll choose coverage that fits.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
HealthCare.gov enrollment runs November 1 through January 15. Choose your plan by December 15 if you want it effective January 1.
January 15 is still the final HealthCare.gov enrollment date, but signing up after December 15 means coverage begins after January 1. Losing existing insurance can generally qualify you for another enrollment opportunity during the year.
Yes. Although HealthCare.gov has no Indiana PPO medical plans this year, I can help healthy business owners apply for nationwide PPO coverage outside the marketplace.
Use the profit you'd expect during an ordinary year, not your highest-earning season. If business turns out unusually strong or weak, promptly adjust your marketplace income projection.
Before November gets too busy, send me your county, who needs coverage, and an estimate of last year's business profit. I'll compare household coverage prices and let you know directly whether keeping your existing plan makes more sense.
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