Open enrollment

Public or private? Start with the difference.

Every health insurance conversation comes down to two markets. One is based on your income. The other is based on your health. Knowing which one you belong in is the whole ballgame, and it takes about five minutes to explain.

Based on your income

The public marketplace

These are the marketplace plans many people know as Obamacare. What you pay is set by your household income, and the plans are designed first for people with major pre-existing conditions and for people who qualify for substantial government assistance to bring the cost down.

Price follows your income, not your health
Any health condition can enroll
Government assistance can lower the premium if you qualify
Enrollment happens during open enrollment or after a qualifying life event

Based on your health

The private market

Private plans are underwritten, which means approval is based on your health history instead of your income. If you are relatively healthy, that works in your favor: private plans typically come with access to nationwide PPO networks, so your doctors are far more likely to be in network wherever you go.

Approval and price follow your health, not your income
Nationwide PPO access is typical, not the exception
You can apply any time of year, not just during open enrollment
Being healthy is an advantage here, not a footnote

Side by side

The same five questions, two different answers.

Question	Public marketplace	Private market
What it is based on	Your income	Your health
Who it is designed for	Major pre-existing conditions, or households that qualify for large government assistance	Relatively healthy individuals, families, and the self-employed
Doctor choice	Networks are set by the plan and can be narrow	Nationwide PPO access is typical
When you can apply	Open enrollment, or a qualifying life event	Any time of year
Government assistance	Can substantially lower the premium if you qualify	Not part of the pricing

How the decision gets made

Four questions decide almost everything.

These are the questions an advisor asks before recommending anything, because your answers point at the right market faster than any rate quote can.

Start your application

Would you say you are relatively healthy?

On the private market, your health is the application. A healthy history is exactly what underwriting rewards.

Any hospitalizations in the past five years?

A clean recent history keeps more private options open to you.

Any cancer, heart attack, diabetes, or stroke?

Major conditions are what the public marketplace was built to carry, and they do not disqualify you there.

Would you qualify for government assistance?

If you would, a public plan can cost far less than its sticker price. If you would not, that price is the price, and the private market is usually worth a serious look.

Open enrollment questions

Asked every season.

Still unsure which market you belong in? Ask Chelsea directly.

What is open enrollment?

It is the yearly window when anyone can sign up for a public marketplace plan. Outside that window, a marketplace plan usually requires a qualifying life event, like losing coverage or having a baby. Private plans are not tied to that calendar.

Is private insurance only for healthy people?

Private plans are underwritten, so your health history decides approval and price. That is why the honest first question is about your health: if you are healthy, private coverage can be the stronger option. If you are not, the public marketplace exists for exactly that situation.

Can I keep my doctors on a private plan?

Private plans typically run on nationwide PPO networks, which cover far more doctors and hospitals than a narrow marketplace network. We still check your specific doctors and prescriptions before anything is decided.

I am self-employed. Which market fits me?

Many self-employed people earn too much to qualify for meaningful assistance, which makes the public price the full price. If you are healthy, the private market is often where your money buys the most coverage. That comparison is the first conversation we have.

This page is the overview. Your situation is the detail.

The application takes a few minutes and asks for the basics: who needs coverage, where you live, and how to reach you. From there we go over your options on both markets together, in real time. See how our process works.

Your next step

Let’s make coverage
feel less complicated.

Tell us a little about yourself. We’ll take it from there, one conversation at a time.

Let’s get started

Simple questions. Personal follow-up. No obligation.