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Free 60-second toolCOBRA Cost Calculator: How Much Does COBRA Cost Per Month, and Over the Whole Stretch?
By Dick Tracy · Published August 29, 2026
COBRA costs 102% of the full premium your employer was paying: their share, your share, and a 2% fee on top. For one person at the 2025 national average that is about $793 a month. For a family, about $2,294. Over 18 months a family is looking at roughly $41,000. This free calculator turns your election notice (or the national average if you do not have it yet) into a monthly number and a total for as many months as you need, then tells you what to compare it against. No email, no signup, nothing to download. I educate, you decide.
What to compare that number against
Estimates only. The national average comes from the KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey ($9,325 a year single, $26,993 family) plus the 2% COBRA administration fee. The "me and spouse" and "me and children" tiers are estimates between those two figures; employers price them differently. Your real premium is on your election notice, and in Western New York it is often higher than the national average. This is education, not enrollment advice. Bring me the notice and we'll run it together.
Why COBRA costs so much more than your old paycheck deduction
While you were employed, your employer paid most of the premium. In KFF's 2025 survey, employers picked up roughly four fifths of the single premium and about three quarters of the family premium on average. Your pay stub showed the leftover slice. COBRA hands you the whole pie plus a 2% fee for the paperwork. So a $180 paycheck deduction can become a $790 monthly bill for the exact same plan, same doctors, same deductible. Nothing changed except who is paying. The math doesn't math for a lot of people, which is why the election notice goes in a drawer and the 60-day clock quietly runs out.
What to do with your number
Take the monthly figure and compare it to the other doors before you write a check. If you are healthy, in New York, that means pricing a pre-established ERISA group plan first, because it usually beats both COBRA and the full-price marketplace, and you own the policy, so no more COBRA notices ever. If your household income for the year will land under the subsidy line, NY State of Health can be far cheaper than COBRA, but remember the subsidy is based on projected income, and severance or a new job in October can push you over the 2026 cliff and trigger a repayment at tax time. And if you are mid-treatment or already met your deductible, COBRA may be exactly right for now. The full walk-through, with the New York 36-month twist, is in Is COBRA worth it in New York?
Common questions about COBRA cost
How much does COBRA cost per month?
COBRA costs the full premium your employer was paying for your plan, both their share and yours, plus up to a 2% administration fee, so 102% of the real price. Using KFF's 2025 national averages for employer coverage ($9,325 a year for single coverage and $26,993 for family coverage), that works out to roughly $793 a month for one person and about $2,294 a month for a family. Your exact number is printed on the COBRA election notice your employer or its administrator sends you, and in Western New York it is often higher than the national average.
How much does COBRA cost for a family of 4?
Family COBRA is priced on the family tier of your old employer's plan, not per person, so a family of 3, 4, or 5 usually pays the same family rate. At the KFF 2025 national average of $26,993 a year for family coverage, plus the 2% fee, that is about $2,294 a month, or roughly $41,300 over the full 18 months. Your election notice has the real figure for your plan.
How long can I keep COBRA, 18 months or 36?
Federal COBRA lasts 18 months after a job loss or reduction in hours, and only applies to employers with 20 or more employees. New York's state continuation law extends fully insured plans to 36 months total and also covers the small employers federal COBRA skips. Some other qualifying events, like divorce or a dependent aging out, run 36 months under federal law. You pay 102% of the premium the entire time, so longer is not cheaper, it is just longer.
Is COBRA cheaper than a marketplace plan?
It depends on two things: whether you qualify for a marketplace subsidy, and whether you are healthy. If your projected household income for the year lands under the 2026 subsidy cliff, a subsidized marketplace plan is usually far cheaper than COBRA. Over the cliff, the marketplace has no built-in price advantage. And for a healthy person or family in New York, a third door usually beats both: merging into a pre-established ERISA group plan at group rates, with a true PPO and a policy you own. COBRA wins when you are mid-treatment, pregnant, need a specific network, or have already met a big deductible this year.
Do I have to pay for COBRA right away, or can I wait and decide?
You have 60 days from the election notice to elect COBRA, and then another 45 days after electing to make the first payment. Coverage is retroactive to the day your job coverage ended if you do elect. That means you can spend the first few weeks pricing the alternatives with no gap risk: if something happens in that window, you elect COBRA and it covers you back to day one. If a better door is cheaper, you never pay the COBRA premium at all.
Send me a photo of the rate page and I will show you the real numbers side by side: COBRA, the marketplace with and without a subsidy, and the door nobody mentions. Free, no hard sell, ever. I educate, you decide.
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