COBRA Calculator

After a qualifying event, you typically have an 18 to 36-month window where COBRA continuation coverage and a marketplace health plan sit side by side as your two realistic options. Seeing the full cost of each matters because employer plans averaged $9,325 a year for single coverage and $26,993 for family coverage in KFF's 2025 survey, which puts COBRA at roughly $790 and $2,290 a month once the 2% fee is added, and the right call depends heavily on whether marketplace subsidies are within reach. The comparison here lays the long-term price of both paths out in one place.

On the COBRA side, the math applies the statutory 102% premium (100% of the employer's cost plus a 2% administrative fee) to the prior employer-sponsored premium you report. For the marketplace side you enter the monthly premium HealthCare.gov or your state exchange quotes you, after any Advance Premium Tax Credit, since the credit depends on your household income relative to the Federal Poverty Level and on local plan prices. Both premiums are then carried across the 18- or 36-month COBRA window so the totals are directly comparable.

Real marketplace premiums and subsidies move with your exact location, income, and plan choice, so treat the marketplace estimate as a starting point rather than a quote. Deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums apply to COBRA and marketplace plans alike and can reshape which option is genuinely cheaper once you use care. The COBRA administrative fee is easy to wave off, yet over a year or more it quietly adds up to hundreds of dollars.