COBRA vs Marketplace decision helper

Compare COBRA and Marketplace next steps before sharing contact information anywhere.

Tool purpose

This tool keeps the comparison educational: COBRA continuity, Marketplace verification, and Medicaid screening paths. The page exists to help a user organize the event, date, state, and official verification links before they share contact information with any private site.

Browser-only inputs

COBRA vs Marketplace decision helper inputs stay in the browser and are not sent to a server-side calculator endpoint. The result can use coarse state, age band, income band, and date context, but public v0 does not retain identity, phone, email, SSN, prescription, doctor, or plan account information.

Official verification

COBRA vs Marketplace decision helper outputs link back to official sources and label planning dates as estimates when they are derived from user-entered dates. The tool does not decide eligibility, recommend a plan, calculate a final Marketplace subsidy value, or route the user to a paid partner.

What to prepare

Before using COBRA vs Marketplace decision helper, keep source documents nearby: coverage notices, COBRA packets, state marketplace routing, Medicaid or CHIP notices, Medicare timing sources, or employer-plan materials when relevant. The result is a checklist for official verification, not an enrollment application.

Sources

HealthCare.gov: COBRA coverage and the Marketplace Retrieved 2026-05-02; last checked 2026-05-02
U.S. Department of Labor: COBRA Continuation Coverage Retrieved 2026-05-02; last checked 2026-05-02
HealthCare.gov: Special Enrollment Period Retrieved 2026-05-02; last checked 2026-05-02