Then the COBRA paperwork arrives, and the sticker shock can feel like a second gut punch.
COBRA lets you keep your employer's health plan for up to 18 months after leaving a job.
The catch: you now pay the full premium yourself, plus a small administrative fee.
That's the portion your employer used to cover, and it was never small.
The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family coverage ran about $25,572 in 2024, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Workers typically paid around $6,575 of that.
Under COBRA, you could owe the entire $25,572 — roughly $2,131 a month.
For single coverage, the gap is smaller but still brutal.
The total average annual premium was about $8,951, with workers chipping in around $1,368.
On COBRA, that full $8,951 lands on you — about $746 a month.
That math explains why so many people decline COBRA entirely.
A 2024 survey from the health policy nonprofit KFF found that only a fraction of eligible workers actually enroll.
Most either can't afford it or find a cheaper plan elsewhere.
If you lost job-based coverage, you can usually buy a marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, and you may qualify for subsidies that lower your monthly bill dramatically.
A special enrollment period gives you 60 days from your coverage loss to sign up.
Miss that window, and you may be stuck waiting until open enrollment.
First, price a marketplace plan with your income estimate — the subsidy could cut your premium by hundreds per month.
Second, check whether you qualify for Medicaid in your state.
Third, compare what each plan actually covers, including your doctors and prescriptions.
There's also a timing trap worth knowing.
You typically have 60 days to elect COBRA, and coverage can be retroactive to your termination date.
That means you can wait, see if you need care, and still sign up later — as long as you act within the window and pay back premiums.
Some people use COBRA as a short bridge if they have ongoing treatment and want to keep the same doctors.
Others switch to a marketplace plan to save money.
Neither choice is wrong, but the cost difference can be thousands of dollars a year.
One more note: if your former employer had 20 or more employees, COBRA rules apply.
Smaller employers fall under different state rules, which vary widely.
The bottom line is that COBRA rarely wins on price.
It wins on continuity — same network, same coverage, no gaps.
If you're healthy and flexible, shopping the marketplace is often the smarter financial move. **Our take:** COBRA was designed to protect people, not to be affordable, and the full-premium math proves it.
Treat it as a backup, not a default, and always run the marketplace numbers first.
Final Thoughts
A 30-minute comparison could save you more than a thousand dollars this year.