---
url: https://thresholds.pages.dev/health-insurance/cobra-vs-marketplace/
title: "COBRA vs Marketplace calculator (2026)"
updated: 2026-09-07
site: Thresholds
sources:
  - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-25.pdf
  - https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-17/html/2025-01377.htm
  - https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-continuation-health-coverage-workers
  - https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/
---

# COBRA vs Marketplace calculator (2026)

Compare COBRA with a subsidised Marketplace plan over the months you need cover: the 60-day clocks, the 400% cliff, and both totals.

Two clocks start the day job-based coverage ends, and one income number decides the price.

## The clocks

- Marketplace special enrollment: 60 days after (and up to 60 days before) losing job-based coverage.
- COBRA election: 60 days from the later of losing coverage or being given the election notice, then 45 days to pay the first premium. A COBRA election is retroactive to the loss date.
- Voluntarily dropping COBRA is not a qualifying life event. Open enrollment for 2027 coverage: November 1, 2026 – January 15, 2027.

## The prices

COBRA is the full group premium — the employer's share and yours — plus an administration charge, up to 102% of the plan's cost, for up to 18 months after most job losses.

A Marketplace plan is reduced by a premium tax credit when household income falls between the poverty line and 400% of the federal poverty level. The share of income you are expected to pay toward the benchmark Silver plan is 2.10% – 9.96% of household income for 2026 coverage and 2.15% – 10.22% of household income for 2027 coverage.

## The cliff

No premium tax credit above 400% of the federal poverty level — a dollar of income over the line removes the whole credit at once, not a proportion of it. As of 2026-01-01: Expired — not extended (no law enacted as of September 6, 2026).

## Which poverty guidelines apply

Use the guidelines in effect when open enrollment for that coverage year opened. 2026 coverage uses the 2025 guidelines ($15,650 base, +$5,500 per additional person for the 48 contiguous states and DC); 2027 coverage uses the 2026 guidelines ($15,960 base, +$5,680 per additional person). Alaska and Hawaii have their own tables.

Medicaid eligibility in states that expanded it runs to 138% of the federal poverty level; cost-sharing reductions on Silver plans are available at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

## What the calculator does

You give it your state, household size, expected income for the coverage year, the COBRA premium (or the employer's full premium, which it marks up), the months you need, and — strongly recommended — the benchmark Silver premium from HealthCare.gov window-shopping or a real quote. It returns both totals, the difference, where you sit against the cliff, and the two deadlines as a calendar file. Without a benchmark premium the Marketplace figure is labelled an upper-bound estimate, because that is what it is: the cap on your share, not a price.

Calculator: https://thresholds.pages.dev/health-insurance/cobra-vs-marketplace/.

## Sources

- [Rev. Proc. 2025-25 (issued 2025-07-18)](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-25.pdf)
- [Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines, 90 FR 5917 (2025-01-17), doc 2025-01377](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-17/html/2025-01377.htm)
- [DOL — FAQs on COBRA continuation health coverage for workers](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-continuation-health-coverage-workers)
- [HealthCare.gov — special enrollment period](https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/)

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Information, not advice. Figures verified 2026-09-07. https://thresholds.pages.dev/health-insurance/cobra-vs-marketplace/