Health insurance gap after a layoff, bank teller here

My family's coverage ended with the layoff and we have a prescription we cannot skip. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. The COBRA notice arrived with a very high price. What did you choose and how was the process?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 6 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.