COBRA Cost Calculator

COBRA lets you keep your exact employer plan, but you pay the full premium: your old paycheck share plus the part your employer used to cover, plus an administrative fee of up to 2%. That is up to 102% of the plan's total cost. Because employers often pay the larger share, the jump is steep. If the full premium is $700 a month, COBRA runs about $714, even if only $150 came out of your paycheck before. Enter your two shares above to see your figure.

Your paycheck deduction was only your share. Employers typically pay the majority of a health premium, often 70% to 80%, and that subsidy disappears the moment you leave. COBRA is not a markup on your old cost; it is the true cost of the plan, which you were always partly shielded from. The only added amount is the administrative fee, capped at 2% for standard COBRA.

Standard COBRA lasts up to 18 months after a job loss or a reduction in hours. Certain events extend it to 36 months, including divorce or legal separation, the death of the covered employee, or a dependent child aging out of the plan. A disability recognized by Social Security can add up to 11 more months (29 total), and the premium for those extra months may rise to 150% of the plan cost.

It depends on your income and the plans available. Losing job-based coverage opens a special-enrollment window on the Health Insurance Marketplace, where premium tax credits can make a plan far cheaper than COBRA for many families, especially at lower and middle incomes. COBRA's advantage is continuity: the same doctors, the same deductible you may have already partly met this year. Price both. The comparison field in the calculator puts your after-subsidy Marketplace estimate next to the COBRA number.

You generally get at least 60 days from the later of the date you lose coverage or the date your COBRA election notice is sent. You then have 45 days after electing to make the first payment, and coverage is retroactive to the date it would otherwise have ended. That gap can be useful: some people wait, and only elect COBRA retroactively if they have a claim during the window. Confirm the exact dates on your election notice.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and stores nothing on our servers. There is no email box and no sign-up. Your inputs are only reflected in the page's web address so you can bookmark, share, or print your result; clear the link and they are gone.