COBRA, or the Marketplace?
Sixty days from the day your coverage ends. Both clocks run at once.
COBRA keeps your doctors and the deductible you have already worked down this year. A Marketplace plan is usually cheaper, sometimes dramatically so. Which one wins depends on your state, your household and the income you expect for the rest of the year — and the honest answer is that nobody can tell you without running both numbers.
So run them. Nothing you type here leaves your browser, and we will never ask for your email.
What you'll get
Both numbers, side by side.
- What COBRA costs you a month, and what it costs for the rest of the year.
- The Marketplace benchmark plan, your premium tax credit, and what you would actually pay after it.
- Whether your state tops the federal subsidy up — six of them do, and one makes you whole.
- Whether you should be checking Medicaid first, which after a layoff is more often than people expect.
- The deadlines and the traps, dated from the day your coverage ends.
Where these numbers come from
No lead form. That's the whole point.
Most "COBRA vs. Marketplace calculator" pages are lead-capture forms wearing a calculator costume — you put in your details, and a call centre buys them. In August 2025 the FTC settled for $145 million with two companies running exactly that play. PinkSlipped is not an insurance agency, broker or producer. This page captures nothing, transmits nothing, and never sells or brokers your contact details.
The math is the current published federal rules for plan year 2026 — the applicable percentage table from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25, the 2025 HHS poverty guidelines, the CMS federal default age curve under 45 CFR 147.102, and COBRA at 102% of the total group premium per DOL guidance. Enhanced premium tax credits expired on December 31, 2025 and have not been restored, so the hard 400% subsidy cliff is back. Benchmark and bronze premiums are KFF's 2026 state tables. Employer premium shares are the KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Medicaid expansion status and adult eligibility limits are KFF's.
What this is not: a quote. Real plans are priced by county, and your actual options depend on what is sold where you live. Treat this as the number that tells you which conversation to have — then verify before you enroll.