Then the health insurance bill shows up, and the sting turns into a punch.
For millions of Americans, COBRA is the first option they hear about — and often the most expensive one.
COBRA lets you keep your employer's health plan for up to 18 months after leaving a job.
The catch: your employer stops paying its share.
You now cover the full premium, plus a small administrative fee, usually around 2%.
According to KFF's 2024 employer survey, the average annual premium for family coverage ran about $25,572, with employers covering roughly $19,276 of it.
Lose the job, and the whole bill can land on you — often $1,800 to $2,100 a month for a family.
For single coverage, the average total premium was about $8,951 a year, or roughly $745 a month.
That's a mortgage payment in many parts of the country.
And COBRA isn't a discount program — you're paying retail.
You generally have 60 days from the date you lose coverage (or from when you get the COBRA notice, whichever is later) to elect it.
But here's the flip side: you can often wait and elect retroactively if you end up needing care during that stretch.
Some people use those 60 days as a bridge while they shop.
The Affordable Care Act marketplace is the big one.
If your income drops after a job loss, you may qualify for subsidies that cut premiums sharply — sometimes to a fraction of COBRA's price.
Losing job-based coverage also opens a special enrollment window, typically 60 days, to sign up outside the annual open period.
Other routes include a spouse's plan, Medicaid if income is low enough, or a short-term policy, though those come with coverage gaps worth reading carefully.
If you're 65 or older, Medicare may already be your lane.
A few practical moves: check whether your old plan's network and doctors carry over to any marketplace option, since switching can mean new referrals and prior authorizations.
Compare total yearly cost, not just the monthly number — deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums matter.
And keep every piece of paperwork, because COBRA disputes over missed notices are common.
One more thing worth knowing: under the American Rescue Plan, COBRA premiums were fully subsidized for a stretch during the pandemic.
That help has ended, so anyone quoting those old numbers is working from a different era.
Treat the 60-day window as a shopping period, not a countdown to sign.
Run the marketplace numbers before you commit, because the gap between the two can be hundreds of dollars a month.
Losing a job is stressful enough without overpaying for coverage out of habit.
Final Thoughts
Spend an afternoon comparing options — your budget will thank you, and you'll keep the same protection for less.