Health insurance brokers in Virginia

• $150Min new state funded premium help for Virginians buying marketplace coverage in 2027
• Jan 29the last day of Virginia open enrollment for 2027, two weeks past the federal close
• $0what it costs you to have a licensed broker run the Virginia numbers for you

What 2026 cost Virginians

When the enhanced federal premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, Virginia felt it twice. Carriers raised premiums about 22 percent on average for 2026, and with the extra federal help gone, the State Corporation Commission says Virginians saw an average 75 percent increase in what they actually pay each month.

Open enrollment itself did not look like a disaster. About 370,000 Virginians picked a plan for 2026, down only about 4.8 percent. The damage showed up afterward. By July the Commission reported enrollment down 20 percent from the same point a year earlier, and estimated that about 100,000 Virginians had lost coverage because of higher premiums.

If you are one of them, you did not do anything wrong. You got a bill you could not carry. The good news is that 2027 looks different for a lot of people in exactly your position.

Virginia Premium Savings, and why it matters more than the rate headlines

Three things about this program are worth knowing before you shop.

It does not apply automatically. The marketplace says plainly that you have to enroll to receive it. If your plan just rolls over and nobody updates your income, you can leave state money on the table.

It only works through Virginia's Insurance Marketplace. A plan bought directly from a carrier off the exchange does not get it.

The income line at 138 percent is a real boundary. Below it, adults 19 to 64 generally qualify for Virginia's Medicaid expansion instead of the marketplace. That is often the better answer, and I will tell you if it is yours even though I earn nothing on Medicaid.

Changes Virginians should hear about before January

Starting in January 2027, federal law adds work or community engagement requirements of at least 80 hours a month for many adults on Medicaid expansion, and eligibility reviews for that group move from every 12 months to every 6. If you or someone in your household is on expansion Medicaid, keep your mailing address current with the state, because a missed renewal letter is the most common way people lose coverage they still qualify for.

Also from 2027, federal premium tax credits are limited to citizens and a narrower list of lawfully present immigrants, such as green card holders. Virginia's marketplace says people who lose the federal credit can still buy coverage and may still qualify for Virginia Premium Savings, so it is worth checking rather than assuming you are shut out.

What changes for 2027

In Virginia the replacement decision has an extra layer. If Cigna was your carrier and your household income sits between 138 and 250 percent of the poverty level, the plan you move to should be chosen with Virginia Premium Savings applied, because that can change which plan is actually cheapest for you. An automatic replacement does not run that comparison.

Full price premiums are still rising. Insurers asked for an average increase of about 16.7 percent for 2027, and Virginia's reinsurance program, which the Commission says has kept rates 15 percent or more below where they would otherwise be, stays in place. For most subsidized buyers your own income estimate will move your price more than either number.

Open enrollment dates for 2027 coverage in Virginia

Virginia runs its own state based exchange, Virginia's Insurance Marketplace, so it sets its own calendar rather than following HealthCare.gov. For 2027 the window is longer than the federal one.

• November 1, 2026Open enrollment begins for 2027 coverage on Virginia's Insurance Marketplace
• December 15, 2026Deadline to enroll for coverage that begins January 1, 2027
• January 29, 2027Open enrollment closes. Enrolling after December 15 means a later start date

Outside that window you need a qualifying life event, such as losing job based coverage, moving, marriage, a new baby, or aging off a parent's plan at 26, which usually opens a 60 day special enrollment period. In Virginia that enrollment runs through Virginia's Insurance Marketplace, not HealthCare.gov, and for most people open enrollment is the only realistic chance to pick up Virginia Premium Savings for the year.

Every 2027 change in Virginia, carrier by carrier →

How to choose a health insurance broker in Virginia

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. Virginia agents can be checked through the Virginia State Corporation Commission licensee 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 Virginia, 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 Virginia

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

• Virginia Beach
• Chesapeake
• Norfolk
• Richmond
• Arlington
• Newport News
• Alexandria
• Hampton
• Roanoke
• Portsmouth
• Suffolk
• Lynchburg
• Harrisonburg
• Charlottesville
• Leesburg
• Blacksburg
• Manassas
• Fredericksburg
• Winchester
• Danville

I am also licensed in 30 other states, so if you are moving or splitting time between two states, that usually is not a problem either.

Who I help most in Virginia

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 6.9 percent of people in Virginia 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, small business owners, people who just lost employer coverage, and early retirees bridging the gap to Medicare. In Virginia this year I am especially focused on people who dropped coverage in 2026 because of the price, since many of them now fall right inside the income range Virginia Premium Savings was built for.