How to Get Health Insurance Quotes in Delaware

Last updated November 3, 2026 · By Frank Caballero, licensed health insurance broker, NPN 21032307

Delaware at a glance

What a quote takes

1. Book a 15-minute call by phone or video, in English or Spanish. There is no fee.
2. Have ready: your Delaware ZIP code, everyone's ages, your doctors (in Wilmington, Dover or elsewhere), prescriptions, a rough income estimate for the HealthCare.gov side and your health history for the private side.
3. Frank prices private plans from your health answers and Marketplace plans on HealthCare.gov from your income, and checks each network for your doctors.
4. Next, a private application goes to the insurer for an underwriting decision; if approved, coverage can start the first of the next month. HealthCare.gov enrollment happens in open enrollment or a special enrollment period, with Frank's help.

Private plan vs. the Marketplace in Delaware

Delaware limits short-term plans more tightly than federal rules and does not allow them to be renewed, so they are rarely a practical option. The private PPO plans we quote are not short-term.

Delaware rules that shape a quote

Delaware buyers enroll through HealthCare.gov, while the state certifies plans and runs a reinsurance program approved through 2029 that lowers premiums. Even so, final 2027 individual rates rise about 16.5 percent, and one of the state's three individual-market insurers is leaving, so affected enrollees must choose new plans. Delaware's own continuation law covers employers with 1 to 19 workers for up to nine months, filling the gap below federal COBRA. Short-term plans are limited to three nonrenewable months, among the strictest rules in these states. Small-group plans face an even larger increase than individual plans, about 18 percent, which gives small Delaware employers a reason to compare individual coverage reimbursement against their renewal.

Who usually starts with which

Common self-employed work in Delaware: Financial services and legal contractors in Wilmington, construction trades, real estate agents and hospitality owners in the Sussex County beach towns, poultry farm families, and small business owners along the Route 1 corridor.

Delaware's 111,346 small businesses, counted in the SBA's 2025 profile, employ just over half of the state's workers, 50.6 percent. Of those businesses, 88,530 have no employees. The biggest group of one-person firms, 13,373, is in professional and technical services, followed by real estate with 12,191 and transportation and warehousing with 11,481. Other services, such as repair and personal care, and construction come next. None of those owners has an employer plan to fall back on.

Delaware, which enrolls through HealthCare.gov, had 44,663 plan selections in the 2026 open enrollment period, CMS figures show, about 16 percent below the 52,931 recorded for 2025. Roughly 81 percent of this year's enrollees got an advance premium tax credit, against about 91 percent a year earlier, leaving close to one buyer in five, about 19 percent, paying full price. Agents and brokers assisted with about 48 percent of selections. In Census estimates for 2024, about 43 percent of Delaware households earned $100,000 or more, a bracket that sits mostly beyond the reach of the credits.

Business owners with employees

Delaware law, 18 Del. C. section 7202, defines a small employer as one that employed no more than 50 eligible employees on at least half of its working days in the prior quarter, with most of them working in Delaware. For 2027, the Department of Insurance reports that one insurer will offer 33 off-Marketplace small-group plan options at an 18 percent negotiated increase.

Leaving a job or group plan

Delawareans enroll through HealthCare.gov, where losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window and the new plan can start the first of the month after the old coverage ends. Because Delaware continuation lasts only nine months, many people will need that window when it runs out, and running out of continuation qualifies, while dropping it early does not.

If you are self-employed in Delaware, premiums for you and your family are often deductible on your federal return, whichever kind of plan you choose. General information, not tax advice — confirm with your CPA based on your specific entity structure.

2027 rates in Delaware

Marketplace premiums in Delaware are set to rise 16.4% to 16.5% on average for 2027 in finalized filings from 3 insurers, with small-group plans up about 18%; the Delaware 2027 premium increase page has the details.

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