I don’t think there is anywhere a single-person ACA plan costs anywhere near $4K. Even a “platinum” family plan in most places is $2K or less (not that that is

I don’t think there is anywhere a single-person ACA plan costs anywhere near $4K. Even a “platinum” family plan in most places is $2K or less (not that that is cheap, but it isn’t $4K either) But these are also the “retail” unsubsidized prices. If you just lost your job and are without income, its extremely likely that you would qualify for a subsidy, making even a $1600 family plan likely much, much cheaper (and much cheaper than keeping your employer’s plan via COBRA as well). Of course, as evidenced by people on this discussion thread, a lot of people are not aware of how ACA plans and subsidies work. Anyone who would even consider sticking with a COBRA plan after losing a job probably doesn’t realize they would come out much better with an ACA plan. When filling out the form you have to estimate what you’re whole year income will be... assume that you’ll be unemployed for the rest of the year when entering your yearly income. Even if you do end up getting a job in a month or two, you’ll just have to pay back some of that subsidy at tax time (the following April), but in the mean time you had cheap health insurance when you really needed it (while unemployed).