The clock is ticking on Open Enrollment for individual health coverage, which closes on December 11th for a January 1, 2026 effective date. This is a critical moment for practice owners and independent physicians to thoroughly evaluate or reevaluate their current group health insurance options, especially since special enrollment options may allow you to secure flexible group PPO coverage even without employees. This little-known window could be the key to managing your costs and improving your benefits for 2026.

There are only two weeks left to take advantage of special group PPO health insurance options.

Open Enrollment is moving quickly, and many Texas physicians are finalizing their coverage for 2026. Before you renew, it’s worth making one important call to TMA Insurance Trust. You may discover you qualify for coverage you didn’t know was possible.

Helping small practice owners and independent physicians secure the best group health insurance coverage has always been part of our mission. Even when it feels like premiums are always climbing, TMA Insurance Trust has worked hard to research and uncover ways for you to see if you qualify for group health insurance, even without employees, and gain more ways to manage costs.

Each year, Open Enrollment offers the opportunity to review your health insurance and make sure it still aligns with how you practice medicine. If you own a small practice or work independently, you may assume your choices are limited to individual coverage, often an HMO or a short-term medical plan.

If you're a Texas physician who is an independent contractor or locum tenens, you're likely grappling with two painful realities: the rising costs of health insurance and the frustration of being limited to individual HMO plans when you prefer the flexibility and control of a PPO. With individual PPO plans unavailable in Texas, finding comprehensive coverage that works for you may seem out of reach. But it doesn't have to be.

Do you like shopping for health insurance? We didn’t think so. Poring over the details of plans, comparing carriers and calculating costs can be complicated and time-consuming.

Open Enrollment brings the opportunity to take a closer look at your health coverage. For many practice owners and managers, it’s also when rising premiums become a familiar frustration. However, the good news is that this is the time of year when limited special options become available.

Many independent physicians have questions about how group PPO health insurance may apply to their situation. Below, we’ve addressed some of the most common ones.