For the first time, Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System will jointly venture into the volatile and potentially lucrative Affordable Care Act marketplace by launching their own insurer for Broward County residents.
The insurer, called 22 Health, will debut its plans on Nov. 1 and has a competitive hook: access to physicians and specialists at the county’s two largest public health systems, which include 11 hospitals.
The new 22 Health will directly compete with Florida Blue’s ACA plans in Broward County, as well as other insurers, and give the hospital systems another piece of the healthcare business.
The two health systems are in a contract dispute with Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurer with more than 6 million members across Florida. The dispute has put Broward Health and Memorial out-of-network for Florida Blue members. While negotiations are ongoing, the health systems are not allowing patients with Florida Blue to make appointments, even if they agree to pay out-of-network prices. On Friday, Broward Health spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said the hospital system has made significant progress with Florida Blue over the past few weeks. “We are optimistic that we will have great news to share with our patients in the next month or so.”
While Florida Blue did not respond directly to 22 Health’s entry into the marketplace, on Friday, a spokesperson told the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Florida Blue will have more products available in Broward County for 2026 than any other carrier.”
For 2026, 22 Health will offer bronze, silver and gold health plans, with access to retail and mail-order pharmacies, at varying costs based on an individual’s income and medical needs. It will also offer special programs, including case management, maternity care, and disease management for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.
“By creating 22 Health, we are able to extend direct, streamlined access to an extensive network of high-quality providers and exceptional health care services to individuals and families that are self-employed, are between jobs, or their employers don’t offer health insurance,” Jessica Lerner, president and CEO of 22 Health, said in a written statement.
Florida is a hot market for ACA enrollment. The state had the most ACA (Obamacare) sign-ups of any state in 2025, with 4.7 million people turning to the open marketplace for health insurance. The number of Floridians who depend on marketplace health insurance coverage has more than doubled since 2020, when 2 million people were enrolled.
In 2026, 16 carriers offer plans in Florida, including Cigna Healthcare of Florida, which is offering five new plans in Broward County. Aetna has said it will withdraw all ACA individual and family plans at the end of 2025, including those in Florida. It cited persistent underperformance. Aetna enrollees will need to switch to a new insurer for 2026.
In Broward County, 196 plans are available on the ACA Marketplace for 2026, compared to 178 in 2025. Florida Blue offers the most choices, 65 different plans.
The 22 Health plan enters the ACA marketplace at a chaotic time when several factors are at play. Subsidies in the form of tax credits that help most people with coverage pay their premiums are set to expire on Dec. 31. A congressional fight over whether and when to extend them is the main reason for the ongoing government shutdown.
Nationally, the amount health insurers charge for coverage on ACA marketplaces in 2026 is rising 26%, on average. Most enrollees would face even sharper increases in what they pay if the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits expire. Data shows Florida is one of the top states, if not the top, for the number of people affected, meaning many Floridians could face premiums in 2026 quadruple what they pay now, on average.
22 Health is a new division of Community Care Plan, which manages Medicaid for the two public health systems. Spokeswoman Suzanne Tamargo said 22 Health has been in development for three years. Community Care Plan itself has been in operation since 2000 and serves 100,000 members across various health plans and managed care programs, including Florida Healthy Kids and Medicaid.
Healthcare consultant Allan Baumgarten said this is not the first time U.S. hospital systems have offered plans on the ACA marketplace.
“There’s a significant track record of health systems trying to break into that market with their own health plans and not a lot of success out there, but this particular situation may be a good business opportunity,” Baumgarten said.
“If they don’t come to terms with Blue Cross Blue Shield [Florida Blue], then you might have a lot of those enrollees who are using Memorial and Broward Health providers who say, ‘Well, if I can’t get directly to my Broward Health providers, I’m going to sign up for this new plan.’ It’s an opportunity to test the notion that people have warmer feelings about their providers than they do about their insurance company.”
Florida is one of only eight states in the country offering new plans on the ACA marketplace for 2026.
“This new [22 Health] plan might or might not be the best option for you, but it really makes it important for people to make sure they’re comparison shopping,” said Louise Norris, a health policy analyst with healthinsurance.org.
Norris said 22 Health may have more success in Broward County than Aetna or other carriers.
“If a carrier has a strong relationship with providers and has created a strong network, they might be able to be more profitable than another carrier that doesn’t have that network strength,” Norris said. “So you can’t just say that a given geographic area is profitable or not. It really depends. They have the strong provider network, so we’ll see how that goes over time.”
Open enrollment for the ACA marketplace plans begins Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15.
South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.