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Lost Job-Based Health Insurance? COBRA vs the ACA Marketplace, Compared

By Smart Budget Sheets November 11, 2026
COBRA vs marketplace after losing job coverage.

Leaving a job usually ends employer health coverage at the end of that month. You have two main routes in the US, and the cheaper one is often not the obvious one.

Route 1: COBRA

  • Keeps the exact same plan, doctors and deductible progress.
  • You can be charged up to 102% of the full premium, including the part your employer used to pay. A plan that cost you $250 a month from your paycheck can easily cost $900 to $1,100 a month on COBRA.
  • You generally have 60 days to elect it, and coverage is retroactive to the day the old coverage ended once you elect and pay. Usually up to 18 months.

Route 2: the ACA marketplace

  • Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period (you can also apply up to 60 days before it ends).
  • Premium tax credits are based on your estimated household income for the year. A year with a job loss often has lower income, which can mean a much larger subsidy.

A quick comparison

Example: single person, old plan cost them $250 a month, COBRA quote $950 a month. Projected income for the year drops to $38,000. A subsidized silver plan might come to roughly $150 to $250 a month, though the deductible and network may differ. Over six months the gap can be $4,000 or more.

Things to check before choosing

  1. Is your deductible already mostly met this year? Switching resets it. Near year-end with big treatment planned, COBRA can win.
  2. Are your doctors and prescriptions in the marketplace plan network?
  3. Use the 60-day window carefully. Dropping COBRA voluntarily later does not usually open a new marketplace enrollment window outside open enrollment.
  4. Update the marketplace if income changes, so the subsidy is not over- or under-paid at tax time.

Budget it

Put the premium, expected out-of-pocket costs and a cushion for the deductible into your post-job budget, and stretch the emergency fund calculation to cover it.

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General information, not financial advice. Figures are rounded examples.

#personalfinance #budgeting #healthinsurance
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