Then the letter arrives with the price of keeping your health coverage, and the number can feel like a second punch.
COBRA lets you stay on your former employer's health plan for up to 18 months in most cases.
The catch: you usually pay the full premium yourself, both the part your boss used to cover and your own share, plus a small administrative fee.
Family premiums for employer-sponsored coverage now average around $25,000 a year, according to the latest benchmark survey from KFF.
On COBRA, you could owe most or all of that out of pocket.
For a laid-off worker who was paying $150 a month toward a family plan, the COBRA bill can jump past $2,000 a month.
That's more than many mortgages in the Midwest and South.
Rent, groceries, and car insurance have all climbed faster than wages over the past few years.
Credit card balances are near record highs, and the average interest rate on new cards sits above 20%.
Putting COBRA on a card means paying for last year's doctor visit at next year's interest rate.
If you were laid off rather than fired for cause, you can often qualify for a premium tax credit through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
IRS rules say losing job-based coverage counts as a qualifying life event, which opens a special enrollment window.
In many states, a marketplace plan with subsidies costs less than COBRA for the same household.
For a family of four earning $70,000, subsidies can cut the monthly bill by hundreds of dollars.
The trade-off is a different network of doctors and a new deductible to meet.
Dental and vision are often separate on marketplace plans, while COBRA usually folds them in.
That matters if you are mid-treatment for braces or eye care.
One trap to watch: COBRA comes with a 60-day election window, but you cannot wait forever.
Miss it and you are locked out of that plan.
Meanwhile, marketplace enrollment generally closes 60 days after your coverage ends.
If you are between jobs, run both numbers before you decide.
Call your HR department for the exact COBRA rate, then price a subsidized marketplace plan on Healthcare.gov.
Compare the monthly cost, the deductible, and whether your doctors are in network.
Some workers also qualify for Medicaid if income drops low enough, which can cost little or nothing.
And if you are over 65, Medicare usually beats COBRA on price.
The uncomfortable truth is that employer health coverage has quietly become a job benefit worth five figures a year.
Losing the job means losing that subsidy, not just the paycheck.
Final Thoughts
Budget for the gap before the first bill lands, because the system will not wait.