COBRA too expensive? Start with the math
Same plan. Same network. Same card in your wallet. The only thing that changed is that you now pay the share your employer was covering — plus a 2% administrative fee. That's what COBRA is. It isn't a penalty, and it isn't your only option.
Your window
Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period. Your COBRA election window is also 60 days. Enter your last day of coverage and see where you stand.
The honest comparison
COBRA is sometimes the right answer and rarely the cheapest one. I'll tell you straight if it wins for your situation — mid-treatment, a deductible you've already met, a specialist you can't lose. That happens. But most people never price the alternative before the clock runs out.
Premium figures above reflect the KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey national average for family coverage ($26,993/year, of which employers paid $20,143). Your notice will show your plan's real numbers. Enhanced premium tax credits were scaled back for 2026, so subsidy amounts are smaller than in 2021–2025 and an income cap applies again — one more reason to price it rather than assume.
What the call looks like
Household size, expected 2026 income, and ZIP. This determines whether tax credits apply and how large they are before we look at a single plan.
Your doctors, your prescriptions, anything scheduled. I check networks and drug formularies directly — a cheap premium on a plan that drops your cardiologist isn't cheap.
Your COBRA number against real quotes, total annual cost — not just premium. If COBRA wins, elect it. If it doesn't, I enroll you before your window closes.
Where I'm licensed
The same carrier can be excellent in one ZIP code and thin in the next one over. That's why I quote by county rather than by state — and why a national quote engine often hands you a plan your hospital doesn't take.
New to buying your own coverage? Start with how I work as an independent health insurance broker, or call and skip the reading.
Start here
I'm a licensed health, life, and annuity broker working with self-employed people, 1099 earners, realtors, and business owners across South Florida and southeastern Pennsylvania. Carriers pay me, not you — the quote and the comparison cost nothing.
Faster on the phone? That works too.
(561) 316-7895Straight answers
Not necessarily. COBRA is retroactive: you generally have 60 days to elect, and if you do, coverage reaches back to the day your job plan ended. That means you can compare options without a gap — and if something serious happens mid-window, electing COBRA is still on the table.
Yes. Every ACA-compliant plan covers pre-existing conditions and can't charge you more or deny you for health history. What varies is the network and the drug list, which is exactly what I check before recommending anything.
The enhanced credits from 2021–2025 were scaled back for 2026, so the help is smaller and there's an income cap again. Premium tax credits still exist, and plenty of people still qualify. It takes about two minutes to find out where you land — guessing is what costs money.
Then you need a bridge, not a year-long plan, and the calculation is different. Tell me the start date and the benefits waiting period and I'll price the gap specifically.
Occasionally, yes — usually when you've already met a large deductible for the year, or when your household income puts a subsidy out of reach and the group plan was unusually rich. Far more often the marketplace plan costs less, because COBRA charges the full group rate with no employer contribution and no tax credit. The only way to know is to put your election notice next to an actual quote.
The 60-day rule is federal, so that part is identical. The shopping is not. Florida residents enroll through HealthCare.gov; Pennsylvania has its own marketplace, Pennie, with its own carriers and its own deadlines. I'm licensed in both and quote accordingly.
Nothing. Carriers pay broker commissions that are already built into the premium — the same plan does not get cheaper if you enroll yourself. You get help; the price is identical either way.