Calculate your exact COBRA monthly cost after job loss or a qualifying event. Enter what you paid at work plus your employer's share — and see the real 102% COBRA price, 18-month total, and how it compares to ACA marketplace options.
Enter your per-paycheck deduction and your employer’s monthly contribution. Check your benefits portal or last pay stub for both numbers.
📋 Enter Your Health Plan Costs
What was deducted from your paycheck per monthEnter your monthly premium contribution.
Your employer’s share — find in benefits portal or ask HREnter employer’s monthly contribution.
Most plans charge the full 2% — check your COBRA notice
Affects total cost reference and ACA comparison
Your Monthly COBRA Premium
$0.00
per month including 2% admin fee
⚠️ Estimate only. Your exact COBRA premium is printed on your election notice, which your plan administrator must send within 14 days of the qualifying event. Contact HR for the precise figure. ACA comparison uses national 2026 average benchmarks.
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Found your W-2? Box 12, Code DD shows your total annual employer-sponsored health coverage cost (both employee and employer shares combined). Enter it here.
📄 W-2 Box 12 Code DD Method
Total annual cost = employee + employer shares combinedEnter the annual amount from W-2 Box 12 Code DD.
Monthly COBRA Premium (W-2 Method)
$0.00
based on W-2 Box 12 Code DD
Note: W-2 Code DD reflects the prior calendar year’s premium. If your employer renewed the plan at a higher rate, actual 2026 COBRA may be slightly higher. Always verify with your COBRA election notice.
See your total COBRA cost over 18 months (standard coverage), 29 months (with disability extension), and what the equivalent ACA plan would cost with typical subsidies.
📊 Full Coverage Period Cost
Enter your monthly share.
Enter employer’s monthly share.
Total 18-Month COBRA Cost
$0.00
at the standard 18-month maximum duration
Sources & Methodology
✅ COBRA formula verified directly from Department of Labor official guidance. KFF survey data used for average premium benchmarks. All figures are 2025-2026 unless noted.
Primary legal source for COBRA rules. Confirms plans may charge up to 102% of the applicable premium (100% + 2% admin fee). For disability extensions (months 19-29), plans may charge up to 150%. Confirms 60-day election window, 45-day first-payment deadline, and 30-day monthly grace period.
Source for average employer-sponsored plan cost benchmarks used in this calculator. KFF 2025 data: average annual single premium $9,325 (employee pays $1,440 = 15.4%); average annual family premium $26,993 (employee pays $6,850 = 25.4%). Monthly averages derived by dividing by 12.
Confirms that Box 12, Code DD on Form W-2 reports the total cost of employer-sponsored health coverage, including both the employer and employee portions. This is the most reliable way to find your combined plan cost when your HR department or benefits portal is unavailable.
Core COBRA Formula (per 29 U.S.C. 1162, ERISA):
COBRA Monthly Premium = (Employee Monthly Share + Employer Monthly Share) × Admin Factor
Admin Factor: 1.02 (standard) or up to 1.50 for disability extension months 19-29
ACA Benchmark (2026 average): Individual Silver plan before subsidy ~$560/mo; family ~$1,500/mo
Subsidy eligibility: 100-400% FPL (standard), 8.5% income cap applies for qualified individuals
COBRA Insurance Cost Guide: What You’ll Really Pay in 2026
Losing your job is stressful enough. The COBRA election notice arrives a few weeks later with a number that stops most people cold. If you were paying $150 a month for health insurance at work and your employer was quietly covering $600, your COBRA bill is $765 — a 410% increase in what you actually write a check for. That shock is real, and it’s not a mistake. It’s the math working exactly as federal law intended.
This guide explains exactly how COBRA premiums are calculated, where the 102% figure comes from, what the W-2 Box 12 method means for estimating your cost before you get the election notice, and when COBRA is actually worth paying versus when a marketplace plan saves you thousands.
The COBRA Premium Formula Explained
Every COBRA premium calculation starts from the same place: the total cost your employer’s group health plan charges for your coverage tier. That’s not just what you paid — it’s what you paid plus what your employer paid on your behalf. Federal law then allows the plan to add up to 2% as an administrative fee, making the maximum possible charge 102% of the true plan cost.
The KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey — the most widely cited annual benchmark for group health insurance costs — reported the following averages for employer-sponsored coverage. COBRA costs shown use the standard 102% factor. Your specific plan will vary from these national averages, but they’re a useful reality check before you get your election notice.
Coverage Tier
Annual Plan Cost (KFF 2025)
Monthly Plan Cost
Avg Employee Paid
COBRA Monthly (102%)
Individual (Single)
$9,325/yr
$777/mo
$120/mo (15.4%)
$793/mo
Employee + Spouse
~$19,200/yr (est.)
~$1,600/mo
~$350/mo
~$1,632/mo
Family
$26,993/yr
$2,249/mo
$571/mo (25.4%)
$2,294/mo
Disability Extension (mo. 19-29)
Plan charges up to 150% of full premium
—
$777 → $1,166/mo (single)
Source: KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Employee + Spouse tier estimated. COBRA monthly calculated at 102%. Individual COBRA range nationally: $400-$1,275/mo depending on state and plan type.
When Does COBRA Actually Make Sense?
Most people who Google "how much is COBRA" are trying to decide whether to elect it or switch to a marketplace plan. Here’s the honest answer: for most healthy people between jobs, ACA marketplace plans with income-based subsidies are cheaper than COBRA — often by $400 to $600 per month. But COBRA has specific advantages that the sticker price doesn’t capture.
💡 COBRA makes the most financial sense when: You are actively mid-treatment with an in-network specialist you can’t switch (cancer treatment, pregnancy in second trimester, chronic disease management with a specific provider). You have already met a significant portion of your annual deductible and switching plans resets it to zero. You expect employer coverage to restart within 60 to 90 days, making the short COBRA stint worth the premium for continuity. Your household income is too high for meaningful ACA subsidies (generally above 400% of the federal poverty level, though the 8.5% income cap helps many higher earners).
Finding Your Employer Share Before the Election Notice Arrives
You have 60 days to elect COBRA. Your election notice tells you the exact premium — but it might arrive on day 12 of your 60-day window, leaving you waiting and uncertain. Here’s how to estimate before the notice arrives:
Your W-2, Box 12, Code DD: This is the IRS-mandated disclosure of total employer-sponsored health coverage cost for the year. Divide by 12 for the monthly combined cost. Multiply by 1.02 for your COBRA estimate.
Your benefits portal: Log into your company’s benefits portal while you still have access. Most modern platforms (Workday, Gusto, BambooHR, ADP) show the employer contribution side by side with the employee deduction.
Your HR department: Simply ask. HR is required to tell you your COBRA premium and cannot legally withhold it. Most will give you the number on request even before the formal notice is sent.
✓ Data verified: DOL COBRA FAQ + KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey — April 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
COBRA Monthly Premium = (Your Employee Share + Employer Share) × 1.02. If you paid $150/mo and your employer paid $600/mo, your COBRA cost is ($150 + $600) × 1.02 = $765/month. You can also use your W-2 Box 12 Code DD: divide the annual figure by 12, then multiply by 1.02 to get your monthly COBRA estimate.
Your employer was quietly paying the majority of your premium the entire time you worked there — typically 80-84% of individual plan costs according to KFF data. You only saw the small employee share deducted from your paycheck, never the full plan price. On COBRA, you pay 100% of the total cost plus the 2% admin fee. A person paying $120/mo at work who faces a $793/mo COBRA bill hasn’t been hit by an increase — they’re just seeing the real price for the first time.
Federal law allows employers to charge up to 102% of the plan’s total premium. The extra 2% offsets the employer’s costs for managing COBRA enrollees — billing, carrier communication, compliance, and paperwork. Not all employers charge the full 2%; some charge exactly 100%. During the disability extension (months 19-29), the ceiling rises to 150% instead.
18 months for job loss or reduced hours. 36 months for dependents due to divorce, employee’s death, dependent aging out, or employee qualifying for Medicare. A disability extension adds 11 months (months 19-29) for SSA-certified disability, with premiums up to 150% during those additional months.
Three ways: (1) Your W-2, Box 12, Code DD shows the total annual combined premium — divide by 12 then multiply by 1.02. (2) Log into your company benefits portal (Workday, Gusto, ADP) — employer contribution is usually shown alongside your deduction. (3) Ask HR directly — they must provide this information. Once you receive your formal COBRA election notice, it will show your exact premium.
Yes. COBRA premiums are a qualified medical expense under IRS rules, so you can pay them tax-free from your HSA. This is one of the few situations where HSA funds can cover insurance premiums directly. You cannot make new HSA contributions once you lose your HDHP enrollment, but you can draw down existing HSA balances to cover COBRA payments.
Voluntary or involuntary job loss (except gross misconduct), reduction in work hours causing coverage loss, divorce or legal separation from the covered employee, death of the covered employee, the covered employee becoming entitled to Medicare, and a dependent child aging out of coverage. Your employer has 14 days from learning of the qualifying event to notify the plan administrator, who then has 14 days to send you the election notice.
For most people between jobs, ACA marketplace plans with premium tax credits are cheaper — often $400-600/mo less than COBRA. COBRA makes sense when you have ongoing specialist care that would be disrupted by switching networks, when you’ve already met a large portion of your deductible, or when you expect new employer coverage within 1-2 months. Losing job-based coverage triggers a Special Enrollment Period for the marketplace, so you can switch immediately without waiting for open enrollment.
60 days from the date you receive your election notice (or the date coverage ends, whichever is later). Once elected, your first payment is due within 45 days. Coverage is retroactive to the qualifying event date — so you can wait until day 59, elect, and be covered from day one if you had any medical expenses during the decision window. Missing the 60-day deadline permanently forfeits COBRA rights.
Yes, if your employer sponsored separate group dental and vision plans, those are also eligible for COBRA and elected separately. You pay the full combined premium (employee + employer + 2%) for each plan you continue. Many people drop COBRA dental because individual dental plans on the open market are often cheaper than the full COBRA dental premium.
Employers are not legally required to subsidize COBRA, but some offer 1-3 months of premium payments as part of a severance package. This is negotiable before you leave and can save $700-$2,400. The American Rescue Plan Act temporarily required employers to cover COBRA premiums in 2021, but that provision expired and no federal COBRA subsidy exists in 2026.
COBRA plans must provide a 30-day grace period for monthly premium payments. Pay within those 30 days and coverage continues. Miss the grace period entirely and coverage is terminated — retroactively — with no option to reinstate. Set automatic payments or calendar reminders. Losing coverage mid-treatment due to a missed payment is a significant financial and medical risk.