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

The COBRA quote for my family is $1000 a month and I do not know how to afford it. There are 11 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. My spouse has a chronic condition, so dropping coverage feels risky. Is the decision time really that tight?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 12 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.