COBRA quote is huge, any alternatives? - what worked for you?

I was offered COBRA and the monthly cost is more than I expected as an IT help-desk technician. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. My old employer will not help with the premium. How did you decide?

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 12 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.