Losing employer insurance, where should I look? (Charlotte)

My family's coverage ended with the layoff and we have a prescription we cannot skip. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I do not want a gap in coverage. How fast did coverage start?

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It made the follow-up calls so much easier.

Call your pharmacy too. Mine knew of a discount card that helped while coverage was being sorted out.