Health insurance brokers in North Dakota

• 7 to 19percent, the range of approved 2027 average increases across North Dakota's three marketplace carriers
• 41,014North Dakotans picked a marketplace plan for 2026, second only to the 2025 record
• $0what it costs you to have a broker compare North Dakota plans

Three carriers, three very different increases

In October the North Dakota Insurance Department approved 2027 rates for the individual market. The three carriers came in far apart. One was approved at about 7 percent, one at about 13 percent, and one at 19 percent, after the department cut two of the requests below what the carriers asked for.

Commissioner Jon Godfread said families and small businesses are right to be frustrated by another increase. The practical response is to compare before December 15.

A small market that held together

41,014 North Dakotans picked a marketplace plan for 2026. That was down from the 2025 record of 42,901, but higher than every year before that, and the drop of about 4 percent was smaller than the national drop of about 5 percent after the enhanced federal tax credits expired.

Part of the reason prices here stay below the national level is a reinsurance program that began in 2020, which reimburses carriers for very expensive claims. KFF puts North Dakota's average benchmark premium for a 40 year old at $610 a month for 2027, below the national average of $704.

All three carriers offered plans in most counties for 2026, but in five counties only two of them did. Where you live in North Dakota changes your choices more than people expect, especially outside Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks.

North Dakota expanded Medicaid early

North Dakota was in the first wave of states to expand Medicaid, with coverage starting in January 2014 for adults with household income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. If your income has dropped, Medicaid may now be the right answer rather than a marketplace plan, and you can apply any time of year. I will tell you if that is where you land.

Open enrollment dates for 2027 coverage in North Dakota

North Dakota does not run its own exchange. It uses the federal marketplace at HealthCare.gov, so North Dakota follows the federal calendar.

• November 1, 2026Open enrollment begins for 2027 coverage
• December 15, 2026Last day to choose a plan that starts January 1, 2027
• January 15, 2027Open enrollment closes

Outside that window you need a qualifying life event. Losing job based coverage, moving, marriage, divorce, a new baby, adoption, or aging off a parent's plan at 26 all qualify, and each typically opens a 60 day window. In North Dakota a move between counties is worth flagging, because carrier choices are not the same everywhere in the state.

Every 2027 change in North Dakota, carrier by carrier →

How to choose a health insurance broker in North Dakota

Anyone can put "broker" on a website. These are the questions that separate the real ones, and you can ask every one of them in a five minute phone call.

1. Verify the license before anything else

   Ask for the license number and the NPN, then look them up yourself. North Dakota agents can be checked through the North Dakota Insurance Department producer licensing, and every agent in the country is searchable through the NAIC lookup. An agent who hesitates to give you those numbers has told you everything you need to know. Mine are on this page and on my license page.

2. Ask whether they are independent or captive

   A captive agent works for one insurance company and can only sell you that company's plans. An independent broker is appointed with many carriers and compares across them. Neither is dishonest, but only one of them can tell you when a competitor has the better plan for you.

3. Ask what it costs, and be suspicious of any answer other than nothing

   Brokers are paid by the insurance carriers. The premium is identical whether you enroll through a broker, on your own, or directly with the carrier. Nobody should charge you a fee to enroll you in an individual marketplace plan.

4. Ask how many carriers they can actually quote

   "We shop the whole market" is a slogan until someone puts a number on it. Ask which carriers they are appointed with in North Dakota, and ask them to show you the comparison rather than describe it.

5. Ask whether they will still be there in March

   Plenty of agents are enthusiastic in December and unreachable in the spring, which is exactly when a claim gets denied or a doctor turns out to be out of network. Ask who you call when something goes wrong. The answer should be a person, not a call center.

6. Read the reviews, and look at the dates

   A handful of genuine reviews spread over time tells you more than a wall of them that all landed in the same week. Mine are on my Google profile and they arrived one at a time, from clients who agreed to write one.

What working with me looks like

You tell me your ZIP code, who needs coverage, and roughly what you expect to earn this year. I check your subsidy eligibility properly, then compare the plans you qualify for side by side, with the real monthly cost after any subsidy is applied. You pick. I handle the enrollment paperwork, and I stay your point of contact afterward for claims questions, renewals, and life changes.

Most first conversations take about ten minutes. There is no cost and no obligation, and I am not going to pressure you into a plan, because a client who was pushed into the wrong coverage is a client who leaves.

Where I work in North Dakota

Statewide. Most of my work happens over the phone or a video call, so where you are in North Dakota changes nothing about the process.

• Fargo
• Bismarck
• Grand Forks
• Minot
• West Fargo
• Williston
• Dickinson
• Mandan
• Jamestown
• Wahpeton
• Devils Lake
• Watford City
• Valley City
• Grafton
• Lincoln
• Beulah
• Rugby
• Horace

I am also licensed in every other state, so if you are moving or splitting time between two states, that usually is not a problem either.

Who I help most in North Dakota

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 6.1 percent of people in North Dakota had no health insurance in 2024, below the national rate of 8.2 percent.

Individuals and families buying their own coverage, self employed people and 1099 contractors, farmers and ranchers, oil field workers between employer plans, small business owners, people who just lost employer coverage, and early retirees bridging the gap to Medicare. In North Dakota this year I am mostly helping people see what their renewal would cost next to the alternatives before December 15.