Wellness Med Care

COBRA vs. marketplace calculator

COBRA keeps your plan and your deductible progress but costs the full premium. A marketplace plan may cost less per month but resets your deductible to zero. This runs both sides of that arithmetic.

Until new job coverage, Medicare, or year end. COBRA usually runs up to 18 months.
COBRA (your current plan)
The election notice states it: the full premium plus up to a 2% fee.
Marketplace plan
Get the subsidized figure from HealthCare.gov's own estimate, not the sticker price.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent or stored.

The deductible-reset effect

This is the part people miss. If you have already met most of your deductible this year, COBRA preserves that progress - your plan, your accumulators, unchanged. A new marketplace plan starts you at zero, and a plan year that starts mid-year still usually resets again in January. When significant care is coming, that reset can outweigh months of premium savings, and this calculator makes the effect visible instead of leaving it as a hunch.

Facts worth knowing while you decide

  • You have at least 60 days to elect COBRA from the later of the notice date or coverage loss, and election is retroactive to the day coverage ended - so you can wait, stay covered in hindsight if something happens, and pay only if you elect.
  • Losing job coverage opens a marketplace special enrollment period, also generally 60 days. The two windows run at the same time, which is exactly what makes the comparison worth running now rather than later.
  • Premium tax credits depend on your income estimate for the year, including the months you were employed. Run HealthCare.gov's estimator with real numbers before trusting any sticker premium.
  • Networks differ. COBRA keeps your exact network; a marketplace plan may not include your current doctors. Check before you compare on price - our network guide covers how to verify properly.

Support this site

If this saved you money, you can buy us a coffee. It keeps the tools free and ad-light for everyone else.

Buy us a coffee