Losing employer insurance, where should I look? - any advice?

My family's coverage ended with the layoff and we have a prescription we cannot skip. I am in Kansas City, in case local advice matters. I think my income this year might qualify for a subsidy. How fast did coverage start?

A free navigator at a community health centre walked me through my options. It took an hour and saved me a lot of guessing.

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