Johnson County's marketplace doesn't sell PPO plans, but I can help you get a nationwide PPO privately in Iowa. Here's what nurses who maintain a home in Iowa City should consider when choosing coverage for assignments and the breaks between them.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber. As a health insurance broker licensed in 36 states, I spend a lot of time helping travel nurses figure out their coverage. Your assignments may come and go, but your insurance doesn't necessarily need to change with them. We can work through everything over the phone.
Consider a nurse who earned her BSN in Iowa City and then spent four years working in the surgical ICU at the city's large academic hospital. After becoming a travel nurse, she held onto the small house she'd purchased on the east side. Her assignments this year took her to Tucson for winter, Boston for spring and Boise for summer. She returns to Johnson County whenever she's between contracts. Unfortunately, her agency insurance ends each time an assignment finishes. When she searches HealthCare.gov using her home address, she sees only a handful of choices, and none of them is a PPO.
For 2026, Johnson County residents can choose from 16 individual medical plans offered by two insurance companies. The selection includes 9 EPOs and 7 HMOs. Although Iowa has 12 marketplace PPOs, they're restricted to seven counties in northwest Iowa, not the Iowa City area.
I can arrange a private nationwide PPO for you in Iowa. The insurer uses your health questionnaire to calculate the price, and its network includes providers in Tucson and Boise, allowing you to use them as in-network doctors.
Your marketplace subsidy depends on total household income for the coverage year and ends once income exceeds four times the federal poverty level. For travel nurses, earnings can change substantially with each contract, stipend, break from work or per diem shift. Start with contracts you've signed and those you reasonably expect, then update the estimate as things change.
Iowa expanded Medicaid through a program called the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. KFF reports that adults can qualify with income up to 138% of the poverty level. Iowa is also introducing its work requirement early, with KFF's tracker showing December 1, 2026 as the implementation date.
Once your employer-sponsored insurance ends, HealthCare.gov generally allows 60 days for special enrollment. COBRA is another way to keep the agency's coverage going, but voluntarily cancelling COBRA afterward or failing to pay its premiums doesn't qualify you for a fresh enrollment period. Consider both choices before making your COBRA election.
Rather than starting the insurance process over after every assignment, many travel nurses choose personal coverage they can maintain throughout the entire year.
Next step: Get in touch a few weeks before your assignment finishes, and I'll help arrange insurance for the stretch when you're back home.
Marketplace subsidies are available only through HealthCare.gov. In Johnson County, that leaves you choosing between HMOs and EPOs offered by two insurers. Both generally restrict out-of-network coverage to emergencies, which means you could pay for ordinary medical visits yourself while working elsewhere. That trade-off might be reasonable if you spend plenty of time at home. But if assignments keep you away most of the year, I'd compare the subsidized local coverage with a private nationwide PPO before deciding which offers better value.
Next step: Tell me when your assignments start and finish, and I'll put a Johnson County plan with your credit applied alongside a nationwide PPO quote for comparison.
Paying the full premium for an eastern Iowa HMO or EPO can be hard to justify when most of your work happens outside the area. That's where a private nationwide PPO often makes more sense. An underwriter evaluates your medical questionnaire and may accept your application, accept it while excluding one condition, or decline it. Nurses in good health often find premiums below the marketplace's unsubsidized prices. We'll also compare the actual benefits before making a decision. And if you have an ongoing medical condition, tell me about it so I can explain both possibilities rather than ruling anything out prematurely.
Next step: Let's schedule a phone call so I can show you nationwide PPO pricing next to the full, unsubsidized marketplace rates in Johnson County.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
No. For 2026, the Johnson County marketplace offers only HMO and EPO plans through two insurance companies.
Most often, only emergency treatment is covered, since EPO and HMO plans generally exclude other out-of-network medical care.
Yes, a requirement is being introduced. KFF's tracker gives December 1, 2026 as its starting date.
Yes. If you're a nurse in good health, I can help you purchase a private nationwide PPO.
Tell me your Iowa home county, when your contracts begin and end this year, and where you expect to work next. I'll help you plan for time between assignments and quote coverage that works while traveling.
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