Look around. The American workforce in 2026 barely resembles the one we had five years ago. Solo consultants, freelance designers, contract developers, gig drivers, fractional executives – they are everywhere now. And most of them have one thing in common: no employer-paid benefits.

That is a real problem for them. It is a giant opportunity for any broker paying attention.

MBO Partners pegs the U.S. freelance workforce at 72.9 million workers in 2025, roughly 45% of everyone working. About 5.6 million of those independents cleared six figures last year. We are not talking about side hustles. These are skilled professionals with money to spend on real coverage – and most of them are buying it badly, or not at all.

Yet most brokers keep chasing the same W-2 group renewals they have always chased. Meanwhile, the 1099 segment sits there, mostly untouched. Whoever pivots first owns the relationships.

Why the 1099 Workforce Keeps Growing

The shift is not a fad. By 2027, MBO Partners projects 86.5 million U.S. freelancers – close to half the working population. ADP Research found that workers receiving short-term W-2 or 1099 income made up 27% of all jobs in 2024. That is one in four jobs. Realtors are a big part of this story too, since most real estate agents work as independent contractors without group benefits.

Why is this happening? Mostly because people want it. Roughly 70% of independent contractors say they freelance by choice, not because they cannot find a regular job. More than half say they feel more financially secure than they did as W-2 employees. So this is not a workforce that is waiting to come back. It is staying put.

The catch: no employer is buying their health plan, their dental, their vision, their life insurance, or their supplement coverage. They are on their own. And they are looking for someone who actually knows how to help.

Why 1099 Workers Get Underserved

Three pain points come up constantly when independents shop for coverage.

They earn too much for ACA subsidies. A mid-career consultant pulling $120k can stare at marketplace prices and feel sticker shock. They cannot get group rates as a single person, which means they pay individual prices for everything. And they have no HR team helping them figure any of this out.

So they overpay, they underbuy, or they skip it altogether. That is exactly the gap BENADVANCE fills. Sole proprietors and 1099 contractors qualify for group pricing through us – which is unusual, and which is exactly why brokers should be talking about it.

How BENADVANCE Brokers Can Win the 1099 Market

Lead With National PPO Networks

Independents move around. They have clients in three states, an Airbnb in a fourth, and a beach week somewhere else. Narrow regional networks fail them. BENADVANCE Smart Health plans tap four big PPO networks – Cigna, PHCS/Multiplan, Anthem BCBS, and QualCare – so a freelance project manager in Denver can still get in-network care visiting family in Florida.

Use Group Pricing for One-Person Operations

This is the unusual part. Most carriers will not group-rate a sole proprietor. We do. A solo graphic designer can access the kind of pricing structure that small business owners get. Brokers should be saying that out loud, in every 1099 conversation.

Bundle Everything

Independents want one stop, not five. So sell the bundle: medical, dental, vision, life, and supplement insurance, all in one place. 

Use ALL YEAR ROUND ENROLLMENT

The standard open enrollment window is too narrow for this market. People go independent in March, in July, in October. ALL YEAR ROUND ENROLLMENT means brokers can write business whenever the client is ready. No waiting until November.

How to Reach These Buyers

Independents do not show up at chamber breakfasts. They live online. Email, text, LinkedIn, niche communities, podcast sponsorships, newsletter ads. That is where they buy attention from.

BENADVANCE hands brokers a marketing toolkit for this exact world: ready-made email campaigns, text drips, social posts, newsletters. Brokers can also point prospects to a white-labeled landing page on brokerexchanges.com, where members can self-serve without ever scheduling a call. The broker still owns the relationship and still gets paid.

Why 2026 Specifically

The market is growing fast. The global gig economy is valued at $674.1 billion in 2026, growing at a 15.79% compound annual rate. Competition for these buyers is still pretty soft, especially compared to traditional small group sales. That window will not stay open forever.

Cost of entry on the BENADVANCE side is essentially zero. The platform is free for brokers. Commissions are strong. Real-time tracking shows exactly what is closing and what is paying out, which means brokers can iterate on what works instead of guessing.

Where to Start

Independents are not going back to W-2 land. So the broker who builds a 1099 practice in 2026 will still have that book in 2031. Whether your sweet spot is consultants, creatives, contractors, fractional execs, coaches, or real estate professionals, BENADVANCE has the products, the pricing structure, and the platform to help you compete.

Visit benadvance.com or call 201-482-9700 to talk through what an entry into the 1099 market could look like for your practice.