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Health Insurance for Contractors in Florida: What Can a 1099 Tradesperson With No Employees Actually Get?
Written and reviewed by Dick Tracy, licensed health insurance broker (NPN 20414610) · Published September 23, 2026
Quick answer A licensed contractor or 1099 tradesperson in Florida with no employees has four doors, not one, and the marketplace is only one of them. Florida allows medically underwritten private plans with a true PPO, which means a healthy 40-year-old can often beat the state's published 2026 marketplace averages of $505 a month for Bronze and $683 for Silver. You can be merged into a pre-established ERISA group plan solo, no payroll required. And for anybody who works on a ladder, an accident plan that pays cash per injury is the cheapest protection I sell. This page covers all of Florida, with the Southwest Florida numbers for Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Port Charlotte, and Punta Gorda. I educate, you decide.
I'm Dick Tracy, an independent health insurance broker. I'm licensed in Florida (NPN 20414610), one of 25 states I hold a license in, and I work with 80+ carriers. My office is in Buffalo, New York, and I work with Florida contractors the same way I work with everyone: on the phone or on Zoom, with the plan documents on the screen. I came from the healthcare side of this business, so there's no gag clause on me. You get the tips, the tricks, and the traps, and there are a few traps built specifically for people in the trades.
(August 2026, seasonally adjusted)
live in Florida (4.54 million of 22.97 million)
can exempt out of workers' comp
Construction jobs: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida Economy at a Glance, 656.7 thousand, August 2026. Marketplace: KFF, 2026 open enrollment snapshot, 4,538,772 Florida plan selections of 22,973,219 nationally. Exemption: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, construction industry exemptions.
Why "just go on the marketplace" is bad advice for a contractor
Nearly one in five marketplace enrollees in the country lives in Florida, so it is no surprise that every contractor I talk to here was told the marketplace is the only door. It is not. It is the door that cannot ask health questions and the only door with a subsidy, and those are real advantages for the right person. But a marketplace plan is priced on the whole pool, its networks in Florida are often narrow, and its subsidy is built on income you have to guess in advance. A roofer's income is not a salary. A great hurricane rebuild year can turn a subsidy into a bill. And the plan resets every year during open enrollment, whether your crew is busy or not.
Florida is not New York. Off the marketplace, a Florida carrier can medically underwrite, which means it can look at your health and price you on it. If you are healthy, that is a good thing, and it opens doors that a contractor in Buffalo does not have. Here they are.
The four doors for a Florida contractor, in the order I open them
Door 1: a private plan priced on your health, with a true PPO
These plans ask health questions, and if you pass, your rate reflects you rather than the sickest person in the pool. The networks are the big national PPO networks, the PHCS and MultiPlan type, so you are not locked into one county's hospital system. That matters when you live in Cape Coral, work jobs in Naples, and your specialist is in Tampa. Many of these plans are guaranteed renewable: once you are in, they cannot drop you for getting sick. For a healthy contractor over the subsidy cliff, this is the first door I open, because the math usually maths.
Fits: healthy, no subsidy, wants to pick doctors anywhere in the state. Does not fit: anyone with a condition that fails the questions. That is arithmetic, not judgment, and it is why Door 3 exists.
Door 2: a pre-established ERISA group plan you join solo
ERISA is a federal law from 1974 that governs employer benefit plans. Group plans already exist under it, and a one-person contracting business can be merged into one. You get group rates, a true PPO network, and a policy you own. No payroll, no employees, one simple compliance step I walk you through. The policy follows you from GC to GC, so nothing changes when you finish one job and start the next. Here is the full breakdown.
Fits: owners who want a group-style PPO and a price that does not move when their income does. Often the winner when a spouse and kids are going on too.
Door 3: the healthcare.gov marketplace
Florida uses the federal marketplace. It takes everyone at the same price with no health questions, so it is the safe harbor if you have a condition that would fail underwriting, and it is the only place a premium tax credit lives. For 2026 the enhanced subsidies are gone, the cliff at 400% of the poverty level is back, and there is no longer a cap on repaying an overpaid subsidy at tax time. The cliff sits at $62,600 for one person and $128,600 for a family of four. Before you count on a subsidy, run the free 2026 subsidy cliff calculator with your net profit, not your gross receipts; the MAGI calculator shows you which number counts.
Fits: anyone under the cliff whose income is predictable, and anyone whose health rules out underwriting. Watch: narrow networks, and the income guess. A plumber who projects $45,000 and then bills $80,000 owes the difference back.
Door 4: a fixed-benefit plan (what I call the red bucket)
A fixed-benefit plan pays a set dollar amount per service: this much for an office visit, this much per hospital day, this much for a surgery. No network, so you can cash-pay any clinic, hand in the itemized receipt with the codes on it, and the carrier mails you a check. Florida allows these, and the premiums are usually well under a major-medical plan. I explain them honestly because they get oversold: a foundation, not a roof. Pair one with catastrophic protection, or use it as the everyday layer under something bigger.
Fits: healthy people on a tight budget who shop for care like they shop for materials. Does not fit: anyone expecting a big surgery year who wants one plan to carry the whole load.
The ladder question: what happens when a contractor gets hurt
This is the part nobody covers on the generic "health insurance for self-employed" pages, and it is the part that puts contractors out of business. Florida lets up to three officers of a construction corporation or LLC exempt themselves from workers' compensation, with at least 10% ownership each and a $50 fee, per the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation. A lot of solo contractors file that exemption to save the premium. Fair enough. Now you fall off a roof in Lehigh Acres.
Most major-medical plans exclude injuries that workers' comp covers. If you are exempt, there is no workers' comp, so the health plan generally treats it like any other injury and pays after your deductible. Read your plan's exclusions to be sure, because I have seen a few that are written badly. Then look at the deductible. A single emergency room visit for a fracture can eat a $6,000 deductible before lunch, and you are not swinging a hammer for six weeks. The health plan pays the hospital. Nobody pays you.
That is why I layer an accident plan under the medical plan for everybody in the trades. It pays fixed cash amounts per injury, for the fracture, the stitches, the ambulance, the ER visit, the hospital day, the surgery, on the job or off, on top of whatever the medical plan does, and it does not care which network the hospital was in. The check goes to you. Use it for the deductible, or the truck payment. For a roofer or a framer it is the cheapest coverage I sell per dollar of risk, and I say that as somebody who does not sell it as a substitute for a real medical plan. Here is how I stack the layers for people who work for themselves.
Southwest Florida: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda
The searches that bring contractors to this page come from Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties, and that makes sense. The rebuild after Hurricane Ian in 2022 pulled roofers, framers, electricians, pool contractors, and remodelers into Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Punta Gorda from all over the state, and a lot of them stayed as 1099 subs with no benefits and no plan. Three things to know if that is you.
County matters on the marketplace, not on private plans. Marketplace prices and carriers change at the county line. Lee, Collier, and Charlotte are three different rating areas, and the plan your buddy has in Naples may not exist in Port Charlotte. A privately underwritten PPO or an ERISA group plan prices you, not your county, and its national network reaches Lee Health in Fort Myers, NCH in Naples, and the hospitals in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte the same way it reaches Tampa General when you need a specialist up the road.
Seasonal income needs a plan that does not care about income. Winter is busy when the seasonal residents are back and want the lanai redone. Summer is slow. A subsidy built on a January income guess is a bad fit for that pattern. A plan that prices on your health instead of your income is a good one.
Two-state contractors. A surprising number of Southwest Florida tradespeople still keep a foot up north, including a lot of Western New Yorkers. A marketplace HMO built around one Florida hospital system does you no good in July in Buffalo. A national PPO does. Tell me both addresses and we build around the one where you actually get care. If you are the New York end of that arrangement, here is the Buffalo version of this page.
How much does health insurance cost a Florida contractor?
Here are the honest published anchors. For a 40-year-old buying on their own in 2026, before any subsidy:
| 2026 marketplace average (age 40, before any subsidy) | Florida | US average |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest-cost Bronze plan | $505/month | $456/month |
| Benchmark Silver plan | $683/month | $625/month |
| Lowest-cost Gold plan | $640/month | $615/month |
Source: KFF analysis of healthcare.gov data, 2026 plan year.
Those are pool prices. They cannot ask whether you are a healthy 40-year-old tile setter or a 40-year-old with three prescriptions, so both pay the same. Off the marketplace, a healthy contractor is priced on their own health, and that is where the averages stop applying. Your real number moves with five things: age, county, tobacco use, the network you pick, and whether the plan is underwritten. Give me those five and I will give you real numbers from real carriers, usually the same day. Anybody who quotes your premium without asking is guessing.
And about "cheapest." The cheapest plan is the one that costs least on the day nothing happens. The best plan is the one that costs least on the day you fall off the ladder. What kind of tank should we build? That is the question, not "what is the lowest premium."
Which door is for me?
Healthy, income over the cliff, no subsidy coming
Door 1 first, then price Door 2 against it, and add the accident layer. A private underwritten PPO usually beats an unsubsidized marketplace plan on both price and network. If the family is going on, the ERISA group plan can pull ahead.
Income swings from $40,000 to $90,000 depending on the year
Door 1 or Door 2. A plan that does not care what you earn is worth a lot when your year is unpredictable. If you take a subsidy anyway, estimate honestly, because 2026 has no cap on paying it back.
Healthy, income under the cliff, and steady
Door 3, and check the math. A real subsidy is hard to beat. One honest line: if you are low income and your work is predictable, a subsidized marketplace plan may be your best deal. Let me check the numbers before you decide either way.
A recent serious diagnosis or a condition that would fail health questions
Door 3, for now. The marketplace cannot turn you down or charge you more. Take it, get well, and we revisit the other doors at a later open enrollment.
Filed a workers' comp exemption
Whichever medical door fits, plus an accident plan, no exceptions. You gave up the one policy that would have paid you while you healed. Replace it with something that does.
Spouse has a group plan through their job
Look before you leap. The employer owns the rights to that coverage. One layoff and the whole family is shopping at once. Some families keep the employee on the group plan and put the contractor on a private plan, so a single pink slip cannot take out everybody.
Don't forget the write-off
Whichever door you pick, the premiums are usually deductible on your federal return through the self-employed health insurance deduction, no itemizing required. It is figured on IRS Form 7206 and lands on Schedule 1 of your 1040, line 17, capped at your net profit minus half your self-employment tax, and only for months you were not eligible for an employer plan, including a spouse's. Florida has no state income tax, so the savings are federal, but they are real. Run your number on the free self-employed deduction calculator, then confirm with your tax professional. And remember the plan is the bigger lever than the deduction. A cheaper plan saves you money twelve months a year. The deduction only gives some of it back in April.
Common questions from Florida contractors
Can I get health insurance as a 1099 contractor with no employees in Florida?
Yes, and you have more than one way in. A solo contractor in Florida can buy a privately underwritten plan with a true PPO network, priced on your health instead of on a pool. You can be merged into a pre-established ERISA group plan with no employees and no payroll, and you own the policy. You can buy a fixed-benefit plan that pays set dollar amounts per service. And the healthcare.gov marketplace is there if you qualify for a subsidy or have a condition that would fail health questions. Nobody needs a W-2 or an employee to get covered. Being told the marketplace is your only option is the most common bad advice I hear from tradespeople.
How much does health insurance cost for a self-employed contractor in Florida?
For a 40-year-old in 2026, the published Florida marketplace averages are about $505 a month for the lowest-cost Bronze plan, $683 for the benchmark Silver plan, and $640 for the lowest-cost Gold plan, before any subsidy, per KFF's analysis of healthcare.gov data. Those prices cannot ask about your health, so a healthy roofer and a roofer with three prescriptions pay the same. Off the marketplace, Florida allows medical underwriting, and a healthy contractor over the subsidy cliff often pays less than those averages on a privately underwritten plan. Your real number depends on age, county, tobacco use, network, and whether the plan is underwritten.
Does my health insurance cover an injury on the job site if I filed a workers' comp exemption?
Usually yes, but read the exclusions. Florida lets up to three officers of a construction corporation or LLC exempt themselves from workers' compensation, and a lot of solo contractors do it to save the premium. Most major-medical plans exclude injuries that are covered by workers' comp; if you are exempt, there is no workers' comp to cover it, so the health plan generally pays like any other injury, subject to your deductible. That deductible is the problem. A fall from a ladder can eat a $6,000 deductible in one emergency room visit. That is why I layer an accident plan under the health plan for people in the trades: it pays cash per injury, on top of whatever the medical plan does, and it does not care which network you used.
Is accident insurance worth it for contractors and tradespeople?
For anyone who works on a roof, a ladder, a scaffold, or around power tools, it is the cheapest coverage I sell per dollar of risk. An accident plan pays fixed cash amounts for a fracture, stitches, an emergency room visit, an ambulance, a hospital stay, or a surgery caused by an accident. It pays whether the injury happened on the job or off, it pays on top of your health plan, and it does not care about deductibles or networks. The money can go toward the deductible, or toward the mortgage while you cannot swing a hammer. It is not a substitute for a medical plan. It is the layer that keeps a broken wrist from becoming a broken business.
Can a subcontractor get on the general contractor's health plan?
Not as a 1099 sub. A general contractor's group plan is for the people on the GC's payroll, and putting a subcontractor on it can blow up the sub's independent status with the IRS and the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation. The right move is your own policy, in your own name, that follows you from job to job. A pre-established ERISA group plan or a privately underwritten PPO does exactly that, and neither depends on who is signing your checks this month.
What about the subsidy? My income swings from a $40,000 year to a $90,000 year.
That swing is exactly the trap. A marketplace subsidy is based on the income you project for the year, and for 2026 the enhanced subsidies are gone, the 400% of poverty cliff is back, and there is no longer a cap on paying back an overpaid subsidy at tax time. For one person the cliff sits at $62,600 of income; for a family of four it is $128,600. A contractor who guesses low in January and then lands a big rebuild contract in June can owe the whole subsidy back in April. Plans that do not care what you earn, a privately underwritten plan or a pre-established ERISA group plan, are worth a lot to somebody whose year is unpredictable.
Can I deduct my health insurance premiums as a contractor in Florida?
Usually, yes. The self-employed health insurance deduction lets you write off health premiums for you, your spouse, and your dependents on your federal return without itemizing. It is figured on IRS Form 7206 and claimed on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, line 17, capped at your net self-employment profit minus half of your self-employment tax, and only for months you were not eligible for an employer plan, including a spouse's. Florida has no state income tax, so the savings are federal only. Run your number on the free self-employed deduction calculator and confirm with your tax professional.
Thirty minutes on the phone or Zoom, no fee, no hard sell. Bring your age, county, tobacco status, a rough income range, whether you filed a workers' comp exemption, and how you use care. I price the doors that fit you from the carriers I work with and put them side by side, with the accident layer costed out. I educate, you decide.
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Independent health insurance broker · NPN 20414610 · Licensed in 25 states · 80+ carriers · Buffalo, NY
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