COBRA vs Marketplace Calculator
COBRA vs Marketplace Calculator
What COBRA really costs after the employer subsidy disappears, against a subsidized plan.
What COBRA really costs after the employer subsidy disappears, against a subsidized plan.
We Are Calculator
Professional Financial Tools
8/25/2026
Your payroll deduction while employed. This is the number people anchor on — and it is usually a small fraction of the real premium.
Shown on your W-2 in Box 12 code DD (divided by 12), or ask HR for the total premium. Under COBRA you pay this too.
The qualifying event sets how long COBRA can run.
An SSA disability determination within the first 60 days extends COBRA to 29 months — but the administrative load rises to 50% for months 19-29.
Your income for the WHOLE calendar year, including what you already earned. Losing a job mid-year often drops annual MAGI enough to qualify for a large marketplace credit.
Second-lowest-cost Silver plan in your county, from healthcare.gov.
The full group premium of $1,000 (your $200 plus your employer's $800) plus the 2% administrative load the statute allows. This is 5.0x what was coming out of your paycheque — the employer subsidy disappearing is the whole shock. This is an estimate for planning, not an insurance quote. Actual pricing is set by the insurer or, in promulgated-rate states, by the state regulator.
Benchmark $700/mo less a premium tax credit of $545/mo at 192% of the federal poverty level.
The marketplace saves $865/month here. That is the usual result once income drops, because COBRA's price ignores your income entirely while the marketplace credit is calculated from it.
Job loss and reduced hours give 18 months. COBRA applies only to employers with 20+ employees, though many states have "mini-COBRA" laws covering smaller ones.
You have 60 days from the later of the coverage-loss date or the election notice. Coverage is retroactive to the loss date if you elect, so you can wait, shop the marketplace, and only take COBRA if you actually incur claims. But note the trap: voluntarily dropping COBRA later does NOT create a marketplace special enrollment period — only exhausting it does. Losing your job opens a 60-day marketplace window; use it before it closes.
Free financial calculators, verified against primary sources like the IRS, CFPB and Federal Reserve. No sign-up, and every calculation runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is ever sent to us.
Picked based on what this calculator does
Your 2026 marketplace premium tax credit and how close you are to the 400% cliff.
Open calculatorProject a 529 plan against future college costs.
Open calculatorWhat your group LTD actually pays after tax, and the gap it leaves.
Open calculatorThe commercial day-count convention and what it really costs.
Open calculatorConventional PMI cost and the exact date it cancels under federal law.
Open calculatorOwner's and lender's policy premiums from state-set rate schedules.
Open calculatorThe number that shocks people who have just lost a job is not really a price increase. It is the first time they have seen the actual price.
While employed, your payroll deduction covered a fraction of your health plan — the employer paid the rest, invisibly. COBRA lets you keep exactly the same coverage, but now you pay the whole premium, plus an administrative load of up to 2% that the statute permits.
Using this calculator's defaults: a $200 monthly payroll deduction against an $800 employer contribution means a real premium of $1,000. Add the 2% load and COBRA costs $1,020 per month — more than five times what was coming out of your paycheque, for identical coverage.
The alternative worth checking is a marketplace plan, and the reason it is often dramatically cheaper is structural: COBRA's price ignores your income entirely, while the marketplace premium tax credit is calculated from it. Losing a job usually lowers annual income, which usually raises the credit. That is why the answer frequently flips after a job loss even though the plans themselves have not changed.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server, and there is no signup.
You can find the full premium on your W-2 in Box 12, code DD (that figure is annual — divide by twelve), or by asking HR directly.
How long COBRA runs depends on the qualifying event, per 29 U.S.C. § 1162:
| Qualifying event | Maximum period | Admin load |
|---|---|---|
| Job loss or reduced hours | 18 months | 2% |
| With SSA disability determination | 29 months | 2%, then 50% for months 19–29 |
| Divorce, death, child aging out | 36 months | 2% |
COBRA applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Below that threshold, many states have "mini-COBRA" continuation laws with their own rules — check your state insurance department.
This is an estimate for planning, not an insurance quote. Actual pricing is set by the insurer or, in promulgated-rate states, by the state regulator.
You have 60 days from the later of your coverage-loss date or your election notice to elect COBRA. Losing job-based coverage separately opens a 60-day special enrollment period on the marketplace.
Here is the useful thing about the COBRA window: coverage is retroactive to the date you lost it. You can decline to elect, shop the marketplace, and only elect COBRA if you actually incur a claim during those 60 days. The bill arrives retroactively and the claim is covered.
And here is the trap that catches people. Voluntarily dropping COBRA later does not create a marketplace special enrollment period. Only exhausting it does — running out the full 18 or 36 months. If you elect COBRA and then decide three months in that it is unaffordable, you may be stuck paying it until open enrollment.
The practical order of operations: run the numbers during your 60-day window, before either deadline expires. Use the ACA subsidy calculator to size the credit against your new, lower expected annual income.
Cheaper is not always better here. COBRA wins in several situations that a price comparison alone will miss:
And one asymmetry worth knowing: your income estimate for marketplace purposes covers the whole calendar year. If you lose a job in November, your annual income is probably still high and the credit small — but in January it resets, and the calculation can change completely. It is worth re-running then.