Health Insurance for Travel Nurses

If you are considering travel nursing (or you are already a travel nurse) and wondering what your insurance options are, this article is for you.

Travel nursing is considered short-term employment, or contract work. In the U.S., health insurance benefits are usually tied to your job. This brings to question what options travel nurses have for health insurance. We will explore those options below.

How do travel nurses get health insurance?

There are 4 ways for travel nurses to get health insurance:

1. Agency provided health insurance
2. As a dependent on someone else’s insurance (usually a spouse)
3. Healthcare.gov (Marketplace/Obamacare/Affordable Care Act Plans)
4. Private health insurance

Agency provided health Insurance

Some travel nurse agencies provide health insurance and others do not. Check with your agency to see what coverage options they offer. Most often, larger agencies will have better health insurance while small agencies may not offer it at all. 

When I started as a travel nurse, I chose health insurance through my agency (Aya Healthcare at that time). It was good quality insurance, and it covered me in all US states. I’m not sure about other agencies, but with Aya, health insurance cost me around $200 per week (or $800/month). Note, that this isn’t a number you will see on your paystubs. If you look at Aya’s online job board, each contract shows a range from low weekly pay to high weekly pay. The low number is what you get if you do take health insurance through them. The high number is what you get if you don’t. At the time that I was on their health insurance, I was still making significantly more than I made as a staff nurse (that was when rates were still high from the pandemic). Since then, rates have dropped quite a bit–wondering if travel nursing is still worth it?–. I have also changed what I do for health insurance (which we will get to later). 

The cost of the insurance will vary by agency (as will the quality), but there are a couple of cons to agency-sponsored health insurance you should know before making your own decision:

1. If you use multiple agencies (and you should), you will change insurance every time you use a different agency. That’s assuming you are only using agencies that offer health insurance. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it can be annoying when a doctor you like or the prescription brand you like is not longer covered by your insurance plan. 
2. You are not insured when you aren’t signed onto a contract. This isn’t a big deal if you don’t take more than a week or maybe two between contracts as most agencies are willing to continue coverage for a small gap. Let’s expand on your options for between contracts next. 

What do travel nurses do about insurance between contracts?

When I used Aya’s health insurance, I still took time off between contracts- that freedom is one of the things that make travel nursing great! I felt comfortable doing so, because of COBRA coverage can be retroactively activated (and because I have a healthy savings account). Have you ever received that piece of mail after leaving a job talking about continuing your health insurance? That’s COBRA. It’s basically a continuation of the same health plan. 

You have 60 days from the time your employment ends to activate COBRA. This means that you can take up to 60 days off between contracts and still be covered in the event of an emergency. Now this isn’t quite as amazing as it sounds. You would still have to go back and pay the premiums for the insurance for that period that you were uninsured, and COBRA premiums are not cheap. This is because you aren’t getting the “discount” or amount that your employer typically pays towards the plan. It’s not a perfect solution, but it could help protect you from financial ruin in the event of a catastrophic health event. 

This does still leave you with one problem (albeit, a smaller one)- you don’t have insurance for things like routine doctors visits between contracts. This happens to also be the time that you are more likely to be home. If you want to be able to see the same doctor(s) each year, this can be really inconvenient. Who wants to fly home for a doctors visit? This plus costs are the reasons that I changed my personal health insurance strategy. 

Dependent on someone else’s insurance

This one isn’t very difficult to understand. If you do have the option to be on your spouse’s insurance (or if you are young enough to be on your parent’s insurance), this is likely to be a good, inexpensive option. Just make sure that it will cover you in other states if you plan to take contracts out of state. 

I travel with my husband who works remote, but his insurance is a little weird. It’s completely free for him, but it becomes very expensive if he adds a dependent. Therefore, I am not a dependent on his insurance. 

Healthcare.gov

Government health insurance plans (also called Marketplace, Obamacare, or ACA plans) tend to be really expensive if you don’t qualify for a subsidy. However, if you have a pre-existing condition and don’t want to use agency-sponsored insurance, this may be the right option for you. 

What is available on healthcare.gov varies widely by state. Luckily, it is pretty easy to see your options on their website. It’s worth checking out. One thing to pay attention to is where your insurance will cover you. For example, most HMO and POS healthcare plans, don’t cover you out of state (although sometimes emergencies are still covered- this will vary by plan). 

Private health insurance

While Marketplace health insurance plans can’t deny you based on a pre-existing condition, private health insurance plans can (they are not bound to the rules of the Affordable Care Act). Their pricing tends to be based more on health. The healthier you are, the less risk you bring to the insurance company. They have a lower risk of having to pay out a substantial amount for you. Therefore, they are able to offer you lower cost.

While it is a good idea to research what any health plan does and does not cover, it is even more important with private insurance plans. I say this because private insurance plans are not required to be ACA-compliant. This means they are not held to the 10-essential health benefits that the ACA mandates. This does not mean private health plans are bad, but they do require an additional level of awareness on your part. 

Private health insurance is a good option for someone who is healthy/without pre-existing conditions who wants coverage year-round and does not qualify for subsidies with government run plans.   

What I do for health insurance?

I use private health insurance. For me, it is the least expensive option that fits my needs. I was skeptical at first because of the whole non-ACA compliance thing I mentioned above. Plus, I tend to be skeptical anytime someone is trying to sell me anything, especially insurance. After much research, I can say that I feel confident that I have the best available plan for me. 

In addition to my own research, my insurance agent, Parita Patel, walked me through everything her plans offer. It was important for me to know 2 things:

1. Exactly what would be covered and what would not be covered.

2. The maximum amount I would have to pay in the event of a major health event.

    -side note here, medical expense is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. Make sure you have enough in savings to cover your max out of pocket medical expense. 

If you are interested in setting up a meeting with Parita to see if her plan is right for you, click here.

Disclosure- I do receive a one time referral bonus if you purchase Parita’s plan through my link. It is no additional cost to you, and it is much appreciated by me. 

Remember that health insurance needs are individual to each person. What works well for you may not work well for someone else. I hope this article has helped clear up the options that are available to you so that you can make the best decision for yourself.