COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do? after 12 years as a hotel front-desk agent

The COBRA quote for my family is $650 a month and I do not know how to afford it. I worked as a hotel front-desk agent before this. I saw that marketplace plans might cost less. 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.