More and more Pasco residents are arriving from other places. If New Port Richey, Hudson, Land O' Lakes or Dade City is your new home and you're shopping for health insurance, I'll help you figure out your choices.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a licensed health insurance broker working out of Tampa, just south of Pasco County. I hear a familiar question from people calling me after relocating: "We just got here. How do we even go about getting health insurance in Florida?"
Helping you answer that is my job. You might have bought a home near State Road 54, settled into a New Port Richey condo, or moved onto land near Dade City, the county seat. Wherever you are, we can go through your choices by phone. That's also how I serve clients across the 36 states where I'm licensed. For more information around the bay, visit my Tampa page.
Florida's marketplace can be a shock if you're used to having PPO choices in another state. The only PPO offered locally is considerably more expensive than competing plans. But I can also help you find a private nationwide PPO. For newcomers in good health who don't qualify for premium assistance, that's often the option I'd examine first.
According to the federal plan file, Pasco County has 173 individual medical plans offered by 7 insurers. Just 14 of those plans are PPOs, all sold by the same company. For someone age 40 shopping for silver coverage, the lowest-priced marketplace PPO carries a premium 126% higher than the lowest-priced silver option from another network category. Most alternatives are HMOs or EPOs designed primarily around local care.
People moving here also want to know which hospitals they can use. Bayonet Point in Hudson reports being the only Level II trauma center for Pasco, Hernando and Citrus. New Port Richey has Morton Plant North Bay. When we review plans, we'll make sure the hospital you'd actually use participates in the network.
Health coverage is generally connected to your residential location, which means crossing state lines often requires a different plan. Fortunately, relocating to another ZIP code or county may give you a special enrollment period rather than making you wait until fall. Just remember that the opportunity doesn't stay open indefinitely, and it's easy to miss the deadline while settling into a new home.
When your income qualifies you for premium tax credits, I'd generally start with marketplace plans available at your new address. Otherwise, we'll compare their prices against private PPO coverage.
Next step: Give me a call during your first week at the new address, and we'll work on getting you insured before the enrollment deadline passes.
Consider two 61-year-olds relocating from Ohio. They've sold their northern home, purchased a villa in Hudson, and now rely on savings plus a small pension. Marketplace tax credits are tied to income reported on their return, so the way they withdraw retirement funds can determine whether they qualify for assistance.
I'll be clear that I'm not a tax preparer. My role is to calculate health insurance prices using several possible income amounts. You can take those figures to your preparer and work out a withdrawal strategy. One important consideration is that Florida hasn't expanded Medicaid, which makes an income estimate that's too low potentially problematic.
Next step: Call me with an approximate plan for your withdrawals. I'll compare premiums at two or three income amounts that you can discuss with your tax preparer.
Not everyone relocating to Pasco is retiring. Many continue earning income through their own work. If you don't qualify for a marketplace credit and you're healthy, let's examine a private PPO. Medical underwriting means the insurer may approve you, decline you, or accept you while excluding a condition. If approved for a suitable plan, you'll have a nationwide network, useful when visiting family up north.
Next step: Contact me and I'll compare a private PPO quote with the marketplace's unsubsidized premium for your Pasco ZIP code.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
Pasco's federal plan listing shows 173 individual medical policies across 7 insurers. One of those companies offers all fourteen PPO options.
Yes, potentially. A change to another county or ZIP code can trigger special enrollment. Because the time frame is limited, reach out shortly after relocating.
Yes. For healthy people without premium credits, I can explore private PPO coverage with doctors nationwide. Pasco's marketplace PPO costs over twice as much as other local plans.
I don't charge you anything. The insurance carrier pays my compensation without increasing your premium.
Share your new ZIP code, your moving date, the people who need insurance, and your expected income for this year. I'll help identify the right coverage route and any enrollment deadline you need to meet.
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