Health insurance brokers in Pennsylvania

• 1.4 to 35.1percent, the range of approved 2027 rate increases across Pennsylvania's individual market carriers
• 486,000Pennsylvanians enrolled through Pennie at the end of 2026 open enrollment, down from a record 497,000
• $0what a broker costs a Pennsylvania household, whatever the answer turns out to be

The average is not your number

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department finalized 2027 rates in September. Individual market insurers asked for an average of 17.14 percent, and the department approved 15.97 percent, denying about $94.7 million in increases. Then look at the carrier list. The approved increases run from 1.4 percent at the low end to 35.1 percent at the top, and three insurers were approved above what they originally asked for citing membership risk and rising medical and drug costs.

Why so many people left

Pennsylvania runs its own exchange, Pennie. When the enhanced federal tax credits expired at the end of 2025, average costs for people keeping their coverage doubled in 2026. Pennie ended open enrollment with about 486,000 people, down from a record 497,000, and about 40,000 more dropped coverage in the four months after. Roughly one in three people enrolled in 2025 were no longer enrolled, and cost is the reason they consistently give.

Before you decide you cannot afford it, check. Pennie estimates that four out of five enrollees qualify for financial help, with average savings of about $6,000 a year. Pennsylvania also expanded Medicaid, so if your income is low, the honest answer may be Medical Assistance rather than any plan I could show you.

What changes for 2027

Starting January 1, 2027, federal premium help is limited to green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and certain Pacific Island migrants. Pennie estimates that 20,000 to 30,000 Pennsylvanians who get tax credits now will lose them, including refugees and asylees. The monthly special enrollment period for people earning up to 150 percent of poverty is also no longer available with financial help. And under the 2025 federal law, automatic renewal goes away for the 2028 plan year, when everyone will have to confirm their information each fall.

Open enrollment dates for 2027 coverage in Pennsylvania

A 2025 federal rule would have forced every exchange to close by December 31. A federal court in Maryland blocked that requirement in June 2026, and the Pennie board voted to restore its usual window.

• November 1, 2026Open enrollment for 2027 coverage began on Pennie
• December 15, 2026Enroll by this date for coverage that starts January 1, 2027
• January 15, 2027Open enrollment closes, and coverage chosen after December 15 starts February 1

Outside that window you need a qualifying life event. Losing other coverage, including Medicaid, generally opens a 60 day special enrollment period through Pennie.

Every 2027 change in Pennsylvania, carrier by carrier →

How to choose a health insurance broker in Pennsylvania

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. Pennsylvania agents can be checked through the Pennsylvania Insurance Department agent and company search, 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 Pennsylvania, 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 whether you are likely to qualify for financial help, then walk you through the options that fit, including coverage sold outside the state exchange. If a plan through the state exchange is the right answer for you, I will say so plainly and point you to a certified helper there, since that is the door to any subsidy. For coverage I can place directly, I handle the enrollment paperwork and stay your point of contact afterward.

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 Pennsylvania

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

• Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh
• Allentown
• Reading
• Erie
• Scranton
• Bethlehem
• Lancaster
• Harrisburg
• York
• Wilkes-Barre
• State College
• Altoona
• Chester
• Easton
• Norristown
• Williamsport
• Johnstown
• Lebanon
• Hazleton

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 Pennsylvania

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 5.8 percent of people in Pennsylvania 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, small business owners, people who just lost employer coverage, and early retirees bridging the gap to Medicare. In Pennsylvania I also spend time with people who dropped Pennie coverage over cost in 2026 and never checked whether they still qualify for help.