COBRA quote is huge, any alternatives?

I was offered COBRA and the monthly cost is more than I expected as an IT help-desk technician. It has been a long 9 weeks. I saw that marketplace plans might cost less.

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

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