Health Insurance for Travel Nurses and 1099 Nurses

The agency plan problem

Agency health plans typically start a few weeks into an assignment and end the day it does. String three contracts together with two-week breaks and you can have four separate coverage gaps in a year, each one a chance to get caught without insurance. Some agencies also offer a stipend instead of a plan, which puts the decision entirely on you.

Your own plan vs the agency plan

• Agency plan: convenient, often cheap while you are on contract, gone when you are not.
• Your own private PPO plan: medically underwritten, year-round enrollment, national network, and it does not care which agency or which state you are in this month. For healthy nurses this is usually the better long-term setup.
• Marketplace plan: guaranteed acceptance, but tied to your home state and often to a narrow regional network. Fine if you are in a health situation private carriers would decline.

Licensing state vs tax home vs assignment state

Your plan should be based on your tax home, the place you return to and maintain. The network needs to cover where you actually work. A national PPO solves both. A county-based HMO from your home state does not.

Taking the stipend

If your agency offers a health stipend, the math usually favors taking it and buying your own plan, because you keep the plan between assignments. Premiums for a 1099 nurse are generally deductible on your return; W-2 travel nurses do not get that deduction, so ask how you are being paid.

Supplemental coverage nurses actually use

Short-term disability matters when a back injury takes you off the floor. Accident protection covers the gap between what the health plan pays and what an injury costs. Both are inexpensive for someone your age and health.