COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do? after 8 years as a teaching assistant

The COBRA quote for my family is $550 a month and I do not know how to afford it. I worked as a teaching assistant before this. I saw that marketplace plans might cost less. How did you decide?

Check what the notice says about the election period and when coverage starts. Mine allowed a short window to choose.

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