Health Insurance in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County for Families, the Self-Employed and Business Owners

Broward County health insurance for 2027: you have more options

Picture a realtor in Coral Springs who sells homes on commission and covers her own family. (A hypothetical, not a real client.) The 2027 renewal lands in her inbox in early November. The price went up again. She figures HealthCare.gov is the only door, so she clicks renew and moves on.

Guess what? It's one door. Not the only one.

Broward residents can often compare three kinds of coverage: Marketplace (ACA) plans with savings based on income, private plans bought straight from an insurer, and, for owners, group options. And you're far from alone in shopping. For 2026, 544,502 Marketplace plan selections came from Broward County (CMS 2026 Open Enrollment county data).

We serve the whole county: Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Plantation, Davie, Pompano Beach and the towns in between.

When you work for yourself in Fort Lauderdale

Nobody's handing you benefits. Nobody's setting it up for you. Nobody's checking your math.

That last part matters most on the Marketplace. Your savings depend on the income you estimate for the year, and a commission check or a slow season can throw that number off. Report profit, not gross sales, and update it when things change. Guess too low, and you may pay some of the credit back at tax time.

Private plans are the other road. Some ask health questions, may not cover every ACA benefit, and don't get tax credits. In exchange, a private plan can start as soon as next month, though approval and rates aren't guaranteed. Red flag: if a plan's price looks too good, read what it leaves out before you sign. We walk through that with you.

Realtors, marine and boating trades, contractors and consultants

These are the owners we talk with all the time. A yacht detailer whose work slows in summer. A contractor with two trucks and a crew. A consultant with one big client and no backup. Different work, same question: what does a year of coverage really cost, not just the monthly bill?

One-person LLCs

Running a one-person LLC? Some association and group-of-one options exist. Qualifying varies. Tax questions go to a tax professional. More in our guide to one-person LLC health insurance in Florida.

Owners with 1 to 100+ employees in Broward

Under Florida law, a small employer for most group health plans has an average of 1 to 50 employees in the prior year (Fla. Stat. §627.6699). Bigger teams get help too.

We look at MEWAs first. A MEWA (multiple employer welfare arrangement) lets small employers join one larger plan. Then level-funded plans and PEOs, where a professional employer organization handles HR and lets small businesses join its benefits plan. An ICHRA gives each employee a set monthly amount toward their own individual plan. We can help with any of these if it's the right option for your team. See how we help small businesses, and our Florida ICHRA guide.

The tradeoff to watch: the lowest group premium isn't always the lowest cost for your people. Compare deductibles and networks too.

Living in one county, working in another

Plenty of Broward residents drive to Miami-Dade or Palm Beach for work. So ask one plain question before you pick a plan: does the network fit where you live, where you work and where your doctors are? Check each doctor and each drug by name. A plan that looks cheap can get expensive fast if your doctor is out of network.

Live in Miami-Dade? See our Miami page.

What we compare

Marketplace plans for individuals and families. Private plans. Small business options. Life insurance, if you want it on the same call. We help people compare popular options such as Aetna, Cigna (private plans only), Blue Cross Blue Shield, and networks such as PHCS (MultiPlan) and First Health. Read how individual and family plans work.

Open Enrollment dates for 2027

• Nov 1, 2026 to Jan 15, 2027: Open Enrollment on HealthCare.gov, which Florida uses.
• By Dec 15: pick a plan for coverage starting Jan 1.
• Dec 16 to Jan 15: coverage starts Feb 1.
• After Jan 15: you generally have to qualify through a life event, like losing other coverage, moving or having a baby. Our guide to health insurance outside Open Enrollment in Florida covers that. See Open Enrollment basics.