July 21st, 2026 – Many people in Colorado are facing layoffs or leaving their job voluntarily. COBRA can be a no-brainer if you’ve already met your deductible or out of pocket maximum for the year, but if that’s not the case, an ACA marketplace plan is worth looking into. When looking at ACA plans, the lowest premium on the screen isn’t automatically the lowest cost for the year — but it isn’t automatically the wrong choice, either. The mistake I see is picking a plan by premium alone, without checking one thing first.
That one thing: are you eligible for cost-sharing reductions? (CSR: extra help that lowers your deductible and copays.) CSRs only work on silver plans, and only if your income is under 250% of the federal poverty level. If that’s you, a silver plan can quietly cut your deductible — sometimes to a few hundred dollars — and a “cheaper” bronze plan means walking right past that help. I’ve watched people save $40 a month in premium and lose thousands in benefits they qualified for.
If you’re not eligible for CSRs, the math flips. A cheap bronze plan can genuinely be the smart pick if you have a healthy year — you pocket the lower premium and never touch the high deductible. The tradeoff is real, not obvious.
One detail worth knowing: the out-of-pocket maximum — the most you can pay in a year — is often only marginally lower on a gold plan than on the cheapest bronze. In 2026 the ceiling tops out at $10,600 for an individual across every tier. So the real difference between metal levels usually isn’t your worst case; it’s how much you pay along the way, on the deductible and copays, before you get there.
So the honest answer is: it depends on your income, your health, and how you’d handle a bad year. Before you sort by price, it’s worth checking whether the silver help applies to you — most people never find out. Happy to run your numbers, at no cost, so you can compare real full-year cost instead of just the sticker.
Keep in mind, you only have 60 days from the last day of regular employer coverage to enroll in a marketplace plan – or else you’ll need to keep COBRA for the balance of the calendar year, until the marketplace’s open enrollment re-opens on November 1st for plans with a January 1st start date. Also remember that you only have 60 days to elect COBRA, as stated in your COBRA offer letter or if your employer has fewer than 20 employees then you have just 30 days to elect State Continuation Coverage, so be mindful of deadlines.