Every few months, you may be moving into another nursing contract and dealing with another change in health insurance. Here's how travel nurses are avoiding uncovered periods between assignments while finding networks that remain useful wherever their next contract takes them.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a Tampa-based licensed health insurance broker who helps people find coverage they purchase themselves. Travel nursing creates a frustrating situation. Your entire profession revolves around caring for patients, yet your own insurance can change whenever you finish one contract and begin another.
I hold licenses across 36 states and conduct all my business by phone. Whether you're relaxing at home before your next assignment or working on a contract on the other side of the country, we can handle everything remotely.
For travel nurses, health insurance problems generally show up in two ways. You might be uninsured between assignments, or your provider network might become practically useless when you work in another state. Let's go through how other traveling nurses are addressing those problems without paying more than necessary.
Before comparing provider networks, I want to establish something important: will your household's total income for the year qualify you for financial assistance through the marketplace?
Unlike a regular staff nursing position, travel assignments can make annual earnings difficult to predict. You might have breaks between contracts, decide to take several months off, or accept some 1099 work where your income is calculated after business expenses. Marketplace financial assistance depends on the household income you anticipate earning over the entire year, not simply what one contract pays.
The income threshold is approximately four times the federal poverty level. That means a little more than $60,000 for someone in a one-person household, with higher limits for larger families. The number of weeks you work can determine which side of that cutoff you fall on. Find your situation below.
If you've worked travel assignments for a while, this probably sounds familiar. Your current contract finishes, your insurance through the agency stops, and the next assignment doesn't begin for several weeks. Or you move to another agency and suddenly need to arrange different coverage all over again.
When employer-sponsored health insurance ends, that loss qualifies you for a special enrollment period, usually lasting 60 days, so you can purchase marketplace coverage outside open enrollment. COBRA may also let you continue your previous insurance. However, voluntarily dropping COBRA later doesn't trigger another special enrollment period. It's worth deciding which route makes sense before choosing to continue your old plan.
Some nurses who travel prefer to purchase their own health insurance and maintain the same plan throughout the year instead of relying on whichever agency employs them. That way, finishing an assignment doesn't automatically mean changing coverage again. We can review whether that approach makes sense for your circumstances.
Next step: Get in touch before you work the final shift of your current assignment. We'll use that time to prepare coverage for the period between your contracts.
When you're comparing plans, check the provider network before getting caught up in the premium. HMO coverage generally doesn't pay for services outside its network except during emergencies, and EPO plans usually work similarly. If most of your plan's doctors are located in your home state, a normal appointment while you're working three states away could leave you responsible for the entire bill.
With a PPO, you can receive out-of-network care, although you'll pay a larger portion of the expense, and you can visit specialists without referrals. If you're healthy and your earnings are above the subsidy limit, medically underwritten private coverage using nationwide PPO networks may be an option. That could allow both your regular doctor back home and a clinic near your assignment housing to be in network. Applying requires medical questions, and your responses determine whether the insurer approves you, declines you, or accepts you with exclusions. Before deciding, we'll review the actual benefits of each plan.
Next step: Schedule a phone conversation with me, and I'll compare the premium for a nationwide PPO with the marketplace pricing available at your permanent home address.
Perhaps you've taken several months away from work, or you're filling the time between assignments with local per diem nursing shifts. If your total household earnings stay below the subsidy threshold, marketplace insurance is generally your lowest-cost option because that's where the financial assistance is available.
Getting your annual income projection right is especially important. Start by reporting the most realistic amount you expect to earn over the full year, then update that figure whenever you accept another contract. If your actual earnings turn out higher and you haven't adjusted the estimate, you could be required to repay some of the assistance when you file your tax return.
Next step: Share the dates of your nursing contracts for the year, and I'll help you use that schedule to estimate your earnings and choose appropriate coverage.
A lot of traveling nurses think nationwide PPO coverage isn't an option because their home marketplace has only HMO and EPO plans, or because its PPO premiums are unaffordable. That's not necessarily the case. I can arrange nationwide PPO coverage throughout the 36 states where I hold licenses. If you're healthy and regularly traveling for assignments, give me a call so we can discuss it.
There's no fee for my assistance. After you enroll, the insurance company compensates me, and your monthly premium won't increase because you worked with me.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
When your agency provides insurance that terminates at the end of an assignment, you can generally either continue that coverage under COBRA or purchase a separate policy yourself. Because you're losing job-based insurance, you typically qualify for a 60-day special enrollment period to sign up through the marketplace.
For the most part, coverage is limited to emergencies when you're outside the network. HMO and EPO policies generally won't pay for ordinary medical visits with out-of-network providers. If your nursing assignments require frequent travel, PPO coverage may work better because it includes out-of-network benefits, although at a higher cost to you.
Yes. You may qualify when your projected household income for the year falls below the threshold, which is around four times the federal poverty level. Since time off and breaks between nursing assignments reduce your annual earnings, it's a good idea to check your eligibility again each year.
When you purchase your own policy, your insurance doesn't automatically terminate just because a nursing contract finishes. For healthy applicants, I can provide quotes for private coverage using PPO networks that extend nationwide, allowing you to maintain the same plan as you move between assignments.
Tell me when your current contract begins and ends, where your permanent home is, and where you're headed for your next assignment. I'll explain your options for staying covered between jobs and what insurance that works while traveling would cost. And if your agency's coverage is the better value, I'll tell you that directly.
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