COBRA vs Marketplace Calculator · GUIDE
Two clocks start when job-based coverage ends. Both are 60 days, and they do not wait for each other.
Because the election is retroactive, there is a real strategy: if you are healthy and expect a new job quickly, you can wait out the election window without paying anything and elect only if something happens. If nothing does, you owe nothing for those months. The risk is care you receive before you elect, which the plan can process only once you do.
Losing job coverage gives a 60-day special enrollment window. Choose a plan by the last day of the month your coverage ends and it begins the first day of the next month with no gap. Choose later and it starts the first of the month after you choose. If you decline the marketplace and take COBRA, ending COBRA yourself usually does not open another window.
COBRA is your old plan, so the deductible and out-of-pocket amounts you already paid this plan year carry over. A new plan starts them at zero. Late in the year, or after surgery you have already paid for, that can make COBRA cheaper despite a much higher premium. Put your own numbers into the calculator to see it.
60 days from the later of the date your coverage ends or the date the plan sends the election notice.
45 days after you elect. Coverage is retroactive to the day your job coverage ended once you pay, so you can wait to see whether you need it. Care received before you elect and pay may be unpaid until then.
Not freely. Losing job coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window. Ending COBRA voluntarily afterwards generally does not open a new one, so the window to pick the marketplace is the one right after the loss. Running out of COBRA or the employer ending it does open one.
No. These are the federal rules in general terms. State laws, small-employer plans and your plan documents can differ.