Quick answer How much is COBRA insurance in Florida? At Florida average employer premiums, about $758 a month for one person, about $1,482 for employee-plus-one, and about $2,159 for a family. COBRA costs up to 102% of the full premium: your old share, plus the share your employer was quietly paying, plus a 2% fee. Florida sits almost exactly at the national average, and Florida has its own continuation law for small employers under 20 people: 18 months, but at up to 115% of the group rate. Your exact number is on your election notice, and there are three ways to find it sooner. I educate, you decide.

I'm Dick Tracy, an independent health insurance broker licensed in Florida (NPN 20414610), one of 25 states, working with 80+ carriers. I came from the healthcare side of this business, so there's no gag clause on me. Most people have never seen the real price of their employer plan until the COBRA notice lands. Here's the math, the Florida rules, and the traps.

How much does COBRA cost per month in Florida?

Cost math: Florida average annual employer premiums for 2025 of $8,919 single, $17,433 employee-plus-one, and $25,396 family, divided by 12, times 1.02. Source: federal MEPS Insurance Component survey (AHRQ), published by KFF State Health Facts: single, employee-plus-one, family. The 102% rule: U.S. Department of Labor. The 115% cap on small-employer plans: Florida Statute 627.6692.

These are averages. Your old plan could be richer or leaner than average, and your notice will have the real figure. Want your own number and the total over the months you actually need? Use my free COBRA Cost Calculator.

Is COBRA cheaper in Florida than the rest of the country?

Barely. In the same 2025 federal survey, the average Florida employer plan cost $8,919 a year for one person against $9,025 nationally. That's about 1% lower. Family coverage averaged $25,396 here against $26,281 nationally, about 3% lower. COBRA is 102% of whatever your old plan really cost, so Florida COBRA lands almost exactly on the national number. Don't let "about average" fool you. It's still the full freight.

Here's the part that stings. While you were working, the average Florida employer paid $7,006 of that $8,919 single premium, and the employee paid $1,913. That's roughly $159 a month out of your paycheck. On COBRA the same coverage is about $758 a month. Same plan, same card, close to five times the price, because the employer's share is now yours. The math doesn't math for most healthy people.

Three ways to find your exact COBRA price

1. Ask HR for the total premium. Ask for the full monthly premium for your tier, both shares combined, and multiply by 1.02. If your employer has fewer than 20 employees, multiply by 1.15 instead to see the worst case under Florida's law.
2. Check your W-2, Box 12, code DD. That figure is the total annual cost of your employer health coverage, your share and theirs. Divide by 12, multiply by 1.02, and you have a close estimate. Larger employers are required to report it; smaller ones may leave it blank. Source: IRS.
3. Read the election notice. It states the exact premium and the deadline. That's the number that counts.

The Florida rules that change the bill

Under 20 employees: the Florida Health Insurance Coverage Continuation Act, 18 months at up to 115%. Federal COBRA only applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Florida fills the gap with its own law, Florida Statute 627.6692, for insured group plans at employers with fewer than 20 employees whose coverage isn't already covered by federal COBRA. A job loss or a cut in hours (other than for gross misconduct) lets you keep the same group plan for up to 18 months. The price is where Florida differs from the federal rule: the statute says the premium "may not exceed 115 percent of the applicable premium." So a small-employer plan in Florida can cost you more per month on continuation than a big-employer plan would on federal COBRA, for the same coverage.

The paperwork moves faster than federal COBRA. Under the Florida law you give written notice to the insurance carrier within 63 days of the qualifying event. The carrier then has 14 days to send you an election and premium notice. From there you have 30 days to elect in writing and pay the initial premium, and that first payment has to cover coverage from the day your group plan would have ended through the end of the month you pay in. After that, premiums are due on the first of the month with a 30-day grace period. Miss the 30-day election window and the door closes. All of this is in section (5)(d) and (5)(e) of the statute.

No bonus months after federal COBRA. Texas adds six months after federal COBRA ends and California adds up to 18. Florida adds nothing. Eighteen months is the ceiling under both the federal law and the Florida law, with one exception: a qualified beneficiary who is disabled can extend Florida continuation by 11 more months, 29 in total, and the carrier can charge up to 150% of the group rate for those extra months. Continuation also ends early if you stop paying, become covered by another group plan, become entitled to Medicare, or the employer drops the plan for everyone.

The federal clock. Under federal COBRA you have 60 days to elect and then 45 days after electing to make the first payment, with a 30-day grace period on every payment after that, and coverage is retroactive to the day your job plan ended, per the U.S. Department of Labor. That first payment can cover more than one month, so budget for it. One more trap: if you start COBRA and later just stop paying, that does not open a special enrollment window elsewhere. Decide on purpose, not by default.

Is COBRA worth that price in Florida?

Sometimes, and I'll say it plainly. If you're mid-treatment, pregnant, scheduled for surgery, or you've already met a big deductible this year, the continuity is worth the money. Same if you had a serious diagnosis in the last few years. For a healthy person or family, COBRA is usually the most expensive door in the hallway, because it's one plan at one price and you can't shop it.

Florida gives healthy people more doors than most states. Florida allows medically underwritten private plans, which means a carrier can ask about your health and price you on the answers instead of on the sickest person in a pool, usually with a true PPO network on the big national footprints. Another door almost nobody mentions is merging into a pre-established ERISA group plan: group rates, a true PPO, and a policy you own and take to the next job. Some people layer a lean medical plan with accident and gap coverage and come out well under the COBRA number. The healthcare.gov marketplace is one more tool: it takes everyone at the same price with no health questions, and it's the only place a premium tax credit lives, which matters if your income for the year lands under the 2026 subsidy cliff. It also comes with trade-offs, mostly HMO networks in much of Florida and a subsidy built on income you have to guess. I walk through every door, including when COBRA wins, in the alternatives to COBRA and in my Florida self-employed guide. Use the 60 days to price them all. Pack the parachute before the plane goes down.

Common questions about COBRA cost in Florida

Who you'll be talking to: me, Richard "Dick" Tracy. Real name, real job.

Independent health insurance broker · NPN 20414610 · Licensed in 25 states · 80+ carriers · Buffalo, NY

No call center, and no lead form that sells your name to ten agencies. The person who answers 716-503-1113 is the same person in this photo. I educate, you decide.

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