COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do?

I was offered COBRA and the monthly cost is more than I expected as a teaching assistant. My spouse has a chronic condition, so dropping coverage feels risky. Is the decision time really that tight?

A quick call to the plan's member line cleared up two things for us that the letter did not.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 8 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.