Lost your job? Here are your health insurance options, ranked

• $9,325average yearly premium for single employer coverage in 2025, the bill COBRA hands to you
• 102%the most a COBRA plan can charge, the full premium plus a 2 percent admin fee
• $178average monthly marketplace premium after tax credits for 2026

Option 1: A marketplace plan, usually the winner

Losing employer coverage is a qualifying life event, which unlocks a Special Enrollment Period on the ACA marketplace. Here's the part most people miss: marketplace subsidies are based on your expected income for the year, and CMS reports that 87 percent of people who picked a marketplace plan for 2026 chose one with a premium tax credit. If your income just dropped because you're between jobs, you may qualify for far more help than you'd expect. The average marketplace premium for 2026 was $619 a month before tax credits and $178 a month after them. Many people in this situation end up paying a fraction of what COBRA costs, sometimes very little at all, for a real major medical plan.

You also do not have to wait for your last day. HealthCare.gov lets you qualify if you expect to lose coverage in the next 60 days, so you can have the new plan lined up before the old one ends. You can estimate your subsidy with my calculator in a couple of minutes.

Option 2: COBRA, same plan, full price

COBRA lets you keep the exact plan you had, which sounds comforting. The catch: your employer was quietly paying most of the premium, and now you pay all of it, plus an admin fee. KFF's 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey puts the average total premium at $9,325 a year for single coverage and $26,993 a year for family coverage. The average worker was only paying $1,440 and $6,850 of that. Under federal rules a COBRA plan can charge up to 102 percent of the full cost, which works out to roughly $793 a month for single coverage and $2,294 a month for a family at those averages.

The basic COBRA rules, from the Department of Labor:

• It applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Some states have their own continuation rules for smaller employers.
• You get at least 60 days to elect it, counted from the later of your election notice or the date your coverage would end.
• You get at least 45 days after electing to make the first payment.
• It usually lasts 18 months after a job loss or a cut in hours.

When COBRA genuinely makes sense: you're mid-treatment with doctors you can't switch, or you've already hit your deductible and out-of-pocket max for the year. In those cases, keeping the same plan can be worth the price. One useful quirk: you get 60 days to elect COBRA and it's retroactive to the day you lost coverage, so it can act as a safety net while you decide.

The COBRA trap nobody mentions

This one catches people every year. If you elect COBRA and later decide it costs too much, dropping it does not let you switch to a marketplace plan. HealthCare.gov is clear that voluntarily dropping COBRA, or just stopping your payments, does not qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period. You would be waiting for open enrollment. So make the COBRA versus marketplace decision inside your first 60 days, with real numbers in front of you.

Option 3: A spouse's employer plan

Your job loss is also a qualifying event for your spouse's plan. Their employer typically allows about 30 days to add you. If that plan is well subsidized, it's often the cheapest path of all, so check it before anything else.

What about short-term plans?

In many states, short-term medical plans can bridge a brief gap for less money. They're real coverage for accidents and new illness, but they're not ACA plans: pre-existing conditions generally aren't covered, and benefits are capped. For a known, short gap they can be a smart tool. As your ongoing coverage, they're usually the wrong fit. This is exactly the kind of trade-off worth a ten-minute conversation.

Losing your job late in the year

If your coverage ends in the fall, open enrollment may line up with your special enrollment window. On HealthCare.gov, the dates for 2027 coverage are below. States that run their own exchanges can set different deadlines.

• November 1, 2026Open enrollment begins for 2027 coverage
• December 15, 2026Last day to choose a plan that starts January 1, 2027
• January 15, 2027Open enrollment closes on HealthCare.gov

If you are going out on your own instead of looking for another job, read my guide to self employed health insurance, because estimating freelance income for a subsidy has its own traps. And if your job ended a while ago and you are not sure your window is still open, here is how special enrollment works.

Bottom line

Check a spouse's plan first if you have one. Then compare a subsidized marketplace plan against COBRA, with your new income. The marketplace usually wins by a wide margin. And move inside the 60-day window. I'm Carson Hornish, an independent broker licensed in 31 states (NPN 21581721). This comparison is exactly what I do, and it costs you nothing. Here is why a broker is free.

Common questions