📍 Georgia Residents

Private Health Insurance in Georgia, Built Around Your Life

On Georgia’s marketplace, almost every plan is now an HMO or EPO — only one carrier still sells PPOs. If you want a real PPO (broad network, specialists without a referral, coverage that travels), you have to look off-exchange. That’s most of what I do for Georgians — small business owners, consultants, creatives, and families across metro Atlanta and the whole state.

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📞 Call (954) 501-5554

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★★★★★ · LICENSED IN Georgia (License #3847793) · NPN 21702538 · PRIVATE PPO OFF-EXCHANGE

DFC07295 C156 4C57 885F 89F66339D08E Private Health Insurance in Georgia — Built Around Your Life

Meet Your Georgia Insurance Specialist

Hey, I’m Thyrza — a licensed Georgia health insurance agent and the founder of Find Coverage. Most of my Georgia clients are in metro Atlanta — small business owners and consultants in Buckhead, Midtown, and Sandy Springs; creative and film-industry pros across the metro; tech and startup folks along the I-85 corridor; and families in Marietta, Alpharetta, Roswell, Decatur, Lawrenceville, and the surrounding counties — but I work with Georgians statewide, including Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Athens.

Send me your situation, including what your old employer plan looked like if you’re transitioning, and I’ll come back to you within 24 hours with private PPO options that actually fit. No lead-sharing.

A personalized quote based on your real life

Georgia License #3847793 · NPN 21702538

See What You Qualify For

Why Private Health Insurance Works for Georgians

Georgia’s marketplace is now almost entirely HMO and EPO plans, and approved premiums jumped about 34% for 2026. For anyone who wants a real PPO, or whose income makes subsidies unreliable, a private off-exchange plan is usually the better fit.

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No PPO on the Marketplace

Only one carrier sells PPO plans on Georgia’s individual market for 2026 — everything else is HMO or EPO. If you want a real PPO with a broad network and no referrals, you buy it off-exchange. That’s most of what I do for Georgians.

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Premiums Up ~34% for 2026

Approved Georgia marketplace rate increases averaged about 34.6% for 2026, before subsidy changes. With the enhanced subsidy cliff returning, many households see an even bigger jump in what they actually pay. Off-exchange pricing doesn’t ride on subsidies at all.

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1099 & Project Income Is Hard for the Marketplace

Film and creative pros, consultants, and freelancers have income that swings with the project calendar. The marketplace makes you estimate it up front and reconciles at tax time, a bad guess means a surprise bill in April. Private PPOs skip the reconciliation game entirely.

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Atlanta Hospital Access

The major Georgia systems — Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Wellstar, Northside, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, are in-network with most private PPO plans. Marketplace HMOs often carry a narrower hospital list. I verify your hospital against the specific plan we choose.

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HSA-Eligible If You’re Healthy

For healthier business owners and individuals who can absorb a higher deductible, an HSA-compatible plan plus a maxed HSA contribution is a real tax-advantaged way to save while keeping solid coverage.

Why Georgia’s Marketplace Is Almost All HMOs, and What That Means for You

Here’s something most Georgians don’t realize until they go shopping: for 2026, only one carrier sells PPO plans on Georgia’s individual market. Every other marketplace carrier — Ambetter, Anthem, Cigna, Kaiser, Oscar, CareSource, UnitedHealthcare — offers HMO or EPO plans only.

An HMO or EPO can be a fine plan. But it usually comes with trade-offs:

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Narrower Networks

HMO and EPO plans build around a smaller, mostly in-state list of doctors and hospitals. If your specialist or preferred hospital isn’t on it, you’re paying out of pocket.

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Referral Requirements

Many HMO plans require a referral from a primary care doctor before you can see a specialist — an extra step every time.

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Limited Travel Coverage

EPO and HMO plans typically cover little or nothing out of network, which matters if you travel for work or split time outside Georgia.

A private off-exchange PPO is how Georgians get the broad network, referral-free specialist access, and travel coverage the marketplace mostly stopped offering. It’s not subsidized, but for self-employed Georgians (where subsidies are unreliable anyway) and anyone who wants real network freedom, it’s usually the cleanest answer. Send me your situation and I’ll have a comparison back to you within 24 hours.

Who We Serve in Georgia

Findcoverage.net is for the Georgians the marketplace forgets, the ones whose lives don’t fit a tidy W-2 income box.

Self-Employed Tradespeople

Real Estate Agents

Travel Nurses

Small Business Owners

Atlanta-Area Professionals

Film, TV & Creative Industry Pros

Families Comparing Plans

OTR Truck Drivers

trade Workers

Independent Contractors & 1099 Earners

Tech & Startup Workers

Early Retirees Pre-Medicare

COBRA Alternatives

How “Building Your Coverage” Works

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all marketplace plan. You build it with a licensed Georgia agent who knows the carriers, networks, and trade-offs.

We Look at Your Real Life

Where you live, where you travel, your income shape, your family, your doctors. No income guesswork.

We Pick a Private PPO Core

Nationwide network. No narrow HMO restrictions. You keep your doctors.

We Layer In What You Need

Dental, vision, accident, critical illness — only what makes sense for you.

No April Surprises

You stay out of the subsidy reconciliation game. No surprise tax bills next April.

georgia Health Insurance FAQ

For 2026, only one carrier — Alliant Health Plans — sells PPO plans on Georgia’s individual market. Every other marketplace carrier (Ambetter, Anthem, Cigna, Kaiser, Oscar, CareSource, UnitedHealthcare) offers HMO or EPO plans only. Over recent years the major carriers shifted their individual products to narrower-network HMOs and EPOs. If you want a real PPO — broad network, no referrals, out-of-state coverage — you generally have to buy it off-exchange.

An HMO has a defined network and usually requires a referral from a primary care doctor before you see a specialist; out-of-network care generally isn’t covered except emergencies. An EPO is similar — a set network, but typically no referral requirement — and it also covers little out of network. A PPO has the broadest setup: a large network, no referrals to see specialists, and partial coverage even out of network. PPOs cost more, but for many self-employed Georgians the flexibility is worth it.

Georgia Access (georgiaaccess.gov) is Georgia’s own state-based health insurance marketplace. Starting with the 2025 plan year, Georgia stopped using the federal HealthCare.gov site, so Georgia Access is now where you shop for and enroll in on-exchange ACA plans. Subsidies work the same way. Private off-exchange PPO plans are separate from Georgia Access — they aren’t sold through the state exchange at all.

Often, yes. COBRA charges you 100% of the premium plus a 2% administrative fee, with no employer contribution — what was a modest payroll deduction can become a four-figure monthly bill. Private off-exchange PPO plans are priced directly to you without that markup, and for many people they come in lower. It depends on your age, household, and the network you want, so the right move is to compare your specific numbers.

Film, TV, and creative work is mostly project-based 1099 income, which makes the marketplace tricky — you have to estimate annual income up front, and the subsidy reconciles at tax time. Two main paths: (a) a Georgia Access marketplace plan if you can predict your income within a reasonable range; (b) a private off-exchange PPO if your income swings too much for subsidies to be reliable. A PPO also travels with you between productions and across state lines. We’ll work out which fits your situation.

For sole owners or 1-2 employees, owner-only private PPO coverage plus a separate strategy for any employees is usually cleanest. For 2-50 employees, small group health plans, ICHRA (Individual Coverage HRA), and QSEHRA give you tax-advantaged ways to fund coverage without taking on full group-plan administration. We’ll walk through what fits your payroll and team size.

You have a 60-day Special Enrollment Period from the date your employer coverage ends. Within that window you can choose:
(1) COBRA continuation through your former employer;
(2) a Georgia Access marketplace plan; or
(3) a private off-exchange plan. Private plans often start coverage the next business day after enrollment, so you don’t have a gap.

Most private off-exchange PPO plans include the major Atlanta-area systems — Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Wellstar, Northside Hospital, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta — in their networks. Marketplace HMO and EPO plans often have a narrower hospital list. Network status varies by carrier and plan, so once we pick a plan I’ll verify your preferred hospital and doctors are in-network before you enroll.

ACA marketplace plans (through Georgia Access) must cover pre-existing conditions with no medical underwriting. Some private off-exchange plans use underwriting, meaning your application can be declined or rated up based on health history. I’ll explain clearly which plans apply underwriting and which don’t, so you can choose what works for your situation.

Two things stack on top of each other. First, Georgia insurers filed and were approved for gross premium increases averaging around 34.6% for 2026 — driven by rising hospital costs, drug prices, and claims trends. Second, the enhanced ACA subsidies that lowered net premiums since 2021 are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, so many households see a much bigger jump in what they actually pay than the sticker increase alone. For households that fall over the subsidy cliff, an off-exchange PPO — which never depended on subsidies — often ends up being the more predictable option.